Inventory of the Edward Parley Cliff Papers , 1931 - 1985
What is this document? Descriptive Summary
| Abstract: | A career forester, Edward P. Cliff (1909-1987) moved through the ranks of the United States Forest Service, eventually serving as chief from 1962 to 1972. Following his retirement from the Forest Service, Cliff became active as a private consultant, focusing on projects involving work and travel in numerous countries. |
| The collection includes nine looseleaf binders that contain Xerox copies and typescripts of speeches, articles, statements, press releases, and photographs documenting Cliff's career in the U.S. Forest Service. One carton and one manuscript box contain materials accumulated by Cliff during his post-Forest Service career as an international forestry consultant; contents include reading files, reports, and papers on such topics as the 1978 Food and Agriculture Organization's mission to Nigeria, agroforestry and soil conservation in Jamaica, and tropical forestry in Africa. | |
| Title: | Edward Parley Cliff Papers, 1931 - 1985 |
| Creator: | Cliff, Edward Parley, 1909-1987. |
| Repository: | Forest History Society Library and Archives |
| Call Number: | 3267 |
| Language of Material: | Material in English |
| Extent: | 2 linear feet (1 record carton, 1 archival box) |
Biographical Note
A career forester, Edward P. Cliff (1909-1987) moved through the ranks of the United States Forest Service, eventually serving as chief from 1962 to 1972. Following his retirement from the Forest Service, Cliff became active as a private consultant, focusing on projects involving work and travel in numerous countries.
Edward Parley Cliff was born September 3, 1909, in Heber City, Utah. He received from Utah State University a B.S. degree in forestry in 1931 and an honorary D.Sc. degree in 1965. He began his career as a forester with the U. S. Forest Service in 1931 as an assistant ranger of the Wenatchee National Forest in Washington state. In 1935 he was put in charge of wildlife management for the Pacific Northwest Region of Oregon. From 1939 to 1944 Cliff served as supervisor of the Siskiyou and Fremont national forests in Oregon. He was assistant chief of the Division of Range Management in Washington, D.C., from 1944 to 1946, after which he returned to his home state to serve as assistant regional forester for the Intermountain Region of Utah until 1950. In the two years following 1950, Cliff served as a regional forester for the Rocky Mountain Region of Colorado. From 1952 to 1962 he served as assistant chief of the United States Forest Service and became chief in 1962.
Serving as chief of the Forest Service from 1962 until 1972, Cliff experienced a decade of rapid change in the agency and in the country. He devoted much time to promoting a better understanding of public forest management problems with grazing interests and the timber industry, and especially with the general public. Public interest in the management of the national forests, as well as demands for numerous forest resources, expanded quickly during this era. He helped the Forest Service to develop a long-range forest research program. Important for the national forest recreationists was his vision in moving the Forest Service more into recreational improvements and programs. This shift responded to the increasing interest in hiking, camping, wilderness travel, mountain climbing, and many other national forest outdoor activities. The Wilderness Act of 1964 gave Congressional blessing to a new national wilderness preservation system and established more than nine million acres of previously designated "wild" or "wilderness" areas as the core. The Forest Service also became involved in the new Job Corps program by operating nearly 50 camps on the national forests; the nationwide natural beauty campaign; rural areas development, and the war on poverty.
Cliff was a charter member of both the American Society of Range Management and The Wildlife Society. He was a fellow of the Society of American Foresters and a member of a wide variety of forestry organizations. He was an active participant at a number of World Forestry Congresses in the 1960s and 1970s. Cliff received distinguished service awards from Utah State Univerity in 1958, the U. S. Department of Agriculture in 1962, and the Tuskegee Institute in 1970. He was also the recipient of a number of other honorary awards given by various forestry and wildlife organizations. Upon his retirement from the Forest Service, Cliff became active as a private consultant, working on projects involving work and travel in numerous countries.
Ed Cliff died in 1987.
Source: Stroud, Richard H., ed., National Leaders of American Conservation (Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985), 98-99.
 | U.S. Forest Service Chief Ed Cliff at the Kirkland's Warbler Management Area, Huron National Forest, Michigan. June 1, 1963. |
 | Chief Ed Cliff riding a mule. Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, October 23, 1966. [U.S. Forest Service Headquarters History Collection.] |
 | Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. Freeman, left and U.S. Forest Service Chief Edward P. Cliff show critical acceptance of a new book, "The National Forests of America," sponsored by the Country Beautiful Foundation. Co-author Secretary Freeman, received the first copy, October 10, 1968. [U.S. Forest Service Headquarters History Collection] |
Collection Overview
The collection consists of nine looseleaf binders that contain Xerox copies and typescripts of materials documenting Cliff's career in the U.S. Forest Service. Volumes one through seven contain copies of Ed Cliff's "Speeches, Articles, Statements, Press Reports, and Photographs." The Forest History Society was one of several repositories in the United States to which Mr. Cliff sent sets of these indexed records. All photographs have been removed from the notebooks and placed in the Forest History Society Photographic Collection (in the file labeled "Cliff--from the Papers of Edward Cliff"). Terry West, Historian with the Public Affairs Office of the U. S. Forest Service, donated the final two volumes of material. One notebook is entitled "The Southern Forest Survey" and contains publications that resulted from a nationwide inventory conducted by the U. S. Forest Service in the 1950s and 1960s. The other volume is entitled "Legislative History: the Wilderness Act" and contains copies of the records of the legislative proceedings concerning Public Law 88-577.
One carton and one manuscript box contain materials accumulated by Cliff during his post-Forest Service career as an international forestry consultant; contents include reading files, reports, and papers on such topics as the 1978 Food and Agriculture Organization's mission to Nigeria, agroforestry and soil conservation in Jamaica, and tropical forestry in Africa.
Collection Arrangement
1. Speeches, Articles, Statements, Press Reports, and Photographs, 1931-1972
2. "Southern Forest Survey," 1960-1967
3. "Legislative History: the Wilderness Act," 1963-1964
4. Other Files, 1969-1985
Subject Headings
- Agroforestry -- Jamica
- Cliff, Edward P. (Edward Parley), 1909-1987
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- Foresters
- Soil conservation -- Jamaica
- Tropical forestry -- Africa
- United States -- History -- 20th century
- United States. Office of Price Administration
- United States. Forest Service -- Officials and employees
Detailed Description of the Collection
1. Speeches, Articles, Statements, Press Reports, and Photographs, 1931-1972
2. "Southern Forest Survey," 1960-1967
3. "Legislative History: the Wilderness Act," 1963-1964
4. Other Files, 1969-1985
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Usage Restrictions
Enter Use Restrictions
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Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Edward Parley Cliff Papers, Library and Archives, Forest History Society, Durham, NC, USA.
Processing Information
Processed by Amanda Ross, August 2008
Encoded by Amanda Ross, August 2008
Funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission supported the encoding of this finding aid. Support for digitization and outreach provided by the Alvin J. Huss Endowment.