During the early years of the University, the forest was used primarily as a source of firewood and a place to graze livestock. In 1898, Gifford Pinchot and Carl Schenck were asked to initiate a plan for forest management at Sewanee, and their recommendations emphasized fire protection, replanting of high-graded forests, and increased cutting in cove forests. John Foley, the first forester to reside in Sewanee, oversaw all forestry operations from 1900-1907, and he wrote the first forest management plan in the region entitled “Conservative Lumbering at Sewanee, 1903”. From 1910 – 1930’s, uncontrolled livestock grazing and fire were the primary problems encountered by local forest managers, and these issues were addressed in Sewanee’s second management plan (1939), which was written in collaboration with the Tennessee Division of Forestry and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Based on this collaboration, TVA foresters used the University’s forest for fertilizer trials, seed source tests, and hardwood plantings. Numerous other experiments and field trials were installed in the University’s forest after the establishment of a U.S. Forest Service silvicultural research laboratory in the 1960’s. Although timber management, fire protection, research, and water quality were the primary management objectives prior to 1980, waste water treatment, recreation, housing developments, wildlife, and the protection of forested and archaeological sites have become increasingly important to the residents of the community over the past 20 years.
New knowledge, skills, or insights that participants will gain from session: 1) The forces that have shaped the management objectives of an 11,000 acre privately owned forest over time 2) Historical information regarding one of the first formal forest management plans in the southeastern US 3) A history of a successful private-public cooperative effort in forest management
Supplementary URL: