Peeling Back The Bark
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Fire Prevention Week: October 3-9, 2010
By Eben Lehman on October 6, 2010This week (October 3-9, 2010) marks Fire Prevention Week, a designation intended to promote the importance of fire safety and awareness as well as to pay tribute to the nation’s firefighters. Dating back almost a full century, the observance began in October 1911 when eight states issued proclamations formally setting aside October 9th as “Fire…
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Notes from the von Salisch Symposium
By Guest Contributor on August 6, 2010Walter Cook shared with us his notes from a recent trip to Poland to attend a symposium on Heinrich von Salisch. Cook and Doris Wehlau translated the 1902 edition of von Salisch’s book Forest Aesthetics, which is available from the Forest History Society. Heinrich von Salisch was a forester who lived in Postel, a hamlet…
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From the Louisiana Swamps to Major League All-Star
By James Lewis on July 13, 2010This week’s Major League All-Star Game in Anaheim, California, brings to mind baseball history as seen through the FHS Library. In the early 20th century, in addition to the two major leagues in the Northeast and the numerous minor leagues around the country, semi-pro baseball teams were sponsored by business owners—including lumber mill owners—and business…
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Celebrate "National Parks and Recreation Month" by reading about both
By James Lewis on July 7, 2010July is National Parks and Recreation Month in the United States. First designated in 1984, Congress did not intend it to celebrate national parks, as some websites would have you believe. Rather, the purpose is to celebrate parks at all governmental levels and recreation in general, and to recognize and honor “the vital contributions of…
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Reflections on Moving to North Dakota in the Winter
By Guest Contributor on March 4, 2010Recently, FHS member Joseph Jones moved from the forested land of Michigan to the treeless wonderland that is western North Dakota. We here at the Peeling Back the Bark HQ were fascinated by his description of a culture that values fireplaces where there is no apparent local supply of wood and asked him to share…
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Remembering Harold Bell, Creator of Woodsy Owl
By James Lewis on December 15, 2009This past weekend the New York Times reported the passing of Harold Bell on December 4 at age 90. Mr. Bell was one of the creators of Woodsy Owl, the Forest Service’s anti-pollution mascot. He was working with agency employees Glenn Kovar, Betty Conrad Hite, and Charles Williams (who gave Woodsy his slogan “Give a…
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Ken Burns’s other “Best Idea” – Using FHS photos in his PBS film, “The National Parks”
By James Lewis on September 25, 2009We recently received an advanced copy of the new Ken Burns film, The National Parks – America’s Best Idea, which begins airing on PBS starting Sunday, September 27. You can see images from the FHS Archives in the first three episodes and our name in the credits. (By the way, if you can’t get to…
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The Fall of Timber Sports?
By Eben Lehman on July 29, 2009This past weekend saw the Lumberjack World Championships take place in Hayward, Wisconsin. The annual event of sawing, chopping, climbing, and log rolling contests celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. While the golden anniversary is cause for celebration, signs of the sport’s decline in popularity seemed to be more evident than ever. A New York…
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Tom Tidwell Appointed New Chief of U.S. Forest Service
By James Lewis on June 18, 2009The news is not too surprising, but the timing is—and a bit fortuitous for us. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on June 17 that U.S. Forest Service chief Gail Kimbell has been replaced by Tom Tidwell. It’s not unusual for a new presidential administration to select someone they believe will carry out their vision…
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South from Alaska: Reflections on Traveling the U.S. and Visiting FHS
By Guest Contributor on May 22, 2009We’ve asked Jim Mackovjak, author of the forthcoming FHS book, Tongass Timber: A History of Logging and Timber Utilization in Southeast Alaska, 1804-1960, to share his thoughts on his recent cross-country bike trip and his time here in Durham. Around our office he has earned the nickname “Lawrence of Alaska” for his ride through the…
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GAO Report on Federal Land Management Issued
By James Lewis on March 18, 2009In 1964, Congress created the Public Land Law Review Commission “to explore how to simplify public land laws and make administering them more effective.” Now, forty-five years later, the General Accounting Office has released a report on the pros and cons of moving the Forest Service from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of…
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Historian Stephen J. Pyne on the Australian Fires
By Guest Contributor on February 10, 2009We’ve asked Stephen Pyne, an environmental historian who has written about fire around the world, to offer his thoughts on the bushfires in Australia. As of this publication date, an area roughly the size of Rhode Island had burned and the death toll neared 200. Black Saturday: The Sequel The fires are a horror, even…
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National Parks Offer Veterans Places of Refuge and Rehabilitation
By Amanda T. Ross on November 11, 2008Since 1919, Americans have honored their servicemen and women on November 11. Originally established as Armistice Day, President Woodrow Wilson declared a day of remembrance on the anniversary of the cessation of hostilities between the Allies and Germany. In so doing, Wilson exalted the “heroism of those who died in the country’s service” in World…
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China's Syndrome
By James Lewis on October 8, 2008A recent article in The New Yorker investigated where China gets its wood from now that logging has been widely banned in the country. “The Stolen Forests: Inside the Covert War on Illegal Logging” states that the ban was instituted after the Yangtze River watershed flooded in 1999, killing more than three thousand people and…
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Playoff Dreams, Shattered Bats
By James Lewis on October 1, 2008Major League Baseball playoffs started today! Besides the excitement of the games, fans can also expect to see more shattered bats, a problem that has plagued baseball at all professional levels this year. In the last 15 years or so, maple has become the favored wood by big league sluggers, with 60% of major leaguers…
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Mad Men Miss the Mark
By Eben Lehman on September 23, 2008The Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame has just this week announced 2008’s class of inductees. The advertising characters Geico Caveman and the Serta Sheep have been honored, alongside previously inducted icons such as the Pillsbury Dough Boy, Colonel Sanders, and the Kool-Aid Man. Shockingly, the U.S. Forest Service’s Smokey Bear was again denied the…
