Peeling Back The Bark
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Collaboration, Inclusivity, and Resilience: Three Birthday Wishes for the Forest Service’s Second Century
By James Lewis on June 30, 2017July 1 marks the anniversary of the U.S. Forest Service’s establishment of the National Forest System in 1907—the day the “federal forest reserves” were renamed “national forests.” Historian Char Miller wants to share his birthday wishes for them. Not every anniversary deserves commemoration. Ordinarily, the 110th birthday of anything would not merit much attention, but…
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Parachuting Into History: Smokejumpers Land In DC For First Time
By James Lewis on June 28, 2017On this date in 1949, four Forest Service smokejumpers made the first jump east of the Mississippi River and the first parachute jump ever made onto the Washington Ellipse, the oval park between the Washington Monument and the White House. The jump was even televised, which is how President Harry Truman reportedly watched it, even…
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Explosive Truths: A Review of the book Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens
By James Lewis on May 18, 2017The vial measures about 1.75″ in length but contains a great deal of information and memory. This is an expanded version of the review of Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens, by Steve Olson, which first appeared in the April-May 2017 issue of American Scientist. When I visit environmental history–related locations, I typically bring…
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This Old (White) House: Turning Salvage Wood into Souvenirs
By Eben Lehman on May 3, 2017Ninety years ago this spring, a major repair project began on the White House in Washington, DC, that ultimately yielded wooden treasures. Work began in March of 1927 to remove large sections of the building’s roof in order to replace wood timbers with steel trusses and undertake a full remodeling of the third floor. This project…
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A Blogpost Unlike Any Other: The Eisenhower Tree, The Masters, and Forest History
By James Lewis on April 6, 2017As the Master’s Tournament gets underway at Augusta National Golf Club this week, one of the icons of the course again will not be there. The famed Eisenhower Tree suffered extensive damage from an ice storm in the winter of 2014 and was removed shortly thereafter. Approximately 65 feet high and 90 years old when…
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Celebrating the Unconventional: A Brief History of Women in Hoo-Hoo
By James Lewis on January 19, 2017The September 1911 issue of The Bulletin, the old monthly journal of the International Concatenated Order of the Hoo-Hoo, had this to say: Not a great many of our members realize that the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo has one member who would not take offense if referred to as no gentleman. In the early days…
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Mary Pickford Stars in “Beverly Hills 9021-Oh Holy Night”
By James Lewis on December 15, 2016Known as “America’s Sweetheart” during the silent film era, Mary Pickford became one of the most powerful women in the history of Hollywood. By 1916, she was earning $10,000 a week plus half the profits of every film in which she appeared (and there were a lot!). And she was producing the movies she acted…
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The Gift of the Pisgah National Forest
By James Lewis on October 17, 2016On October 17, 1916, the Pisgah National Forest was the first national forest established under the Weeks Act of 1911. Written by FHS historian Jamie Lewis, this post was originally published in the online version of the Asheville Citizen-Times on October 14, 2016, and in print on October 16 to mark the centennial. “When people walk…
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A Virtual Tour of New York’s Fernow Forest
By James Lewis on August 19, 2016If you find yourself in New York’s Adirondack Park, be sure to add a walk through Fernow Forest to the Forest History Bucket List of things to do while there. It’s a nice place to spend an hour or so stretching your legs and learning about Bernhard Fernow, an important yet underappreciated figure in North…
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Forgotten Characters from Forest History: Rusty Scrapiron
By Eben Lehman on July 13, 2016Everyone knows Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl, and maybe even Ranger Rick Raccoon, but there are many other forest and forestry-related fictional characters that long ago fell by the wayside. Peeling Back the Bark’s series on “Forgotten Characters from Forest History” continues with Part 18, in which we examine Rusty Scrapiron. This year marks the 75th anniversary…
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Jack Ward Thomas and the Importance of Ethical Leadership
By Guest Contributor on June 6, 2016As the president of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation from 1995 to 2016, Alaric Sample worked closely with the U.S. Forest Service leadership, including Jack Ward Thomas, who served as chief from 1993 to 1996. He offers his reflections on Chief Thomas’ leadership style. Jack Thomas’ formal chief’s portrait. A political appointee, he admitted he was uncomfortable…
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Jack Ward Thomas: A Remembrance
By Guest Contributor on May 31, 2016Jack Ward Thomas served as chief from 1993-1996. (FHS Photo) On May 26, 2016, Jack Ward Thomas lost his battle with cancer. Thomas started his U.S. Forest Service career as research wildlife biologist in 1966 and ended it in 1996 after serving for three years as Chief. Historian Char Miller offers this remembrance. Jack Ward Thomas,…
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The Fort McMurray Fire and the Great Fire of 1919
By James Lewis on May 6, 2016In just two short paragraphs, the Edmonton newspaper account captured the destruction and relief felt that all were safe after a wildfire overwhelmed the town: Swept away in the maelstrom of a raging forest fire which descended upon the place like a furnace blast on Monday afternoon, the little village … is today a mere smouldering mass of ruin and…
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The 27th Triennial FHS Film Festival
By James Lewis on April 1, 2016For your consideration! The Oscar race for 2017 is already heating up. Check out some early contenders at this year’s FHS Film Festival! As usual the films will be shown in the Gifford Pinchot Multimedia Theater at Peeling Back the Bark World Headquarters. What will be this year’s prize-winning film? Be sure to take our…
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Wilderness Travels with a Scientist-Naturalist: A Review Essay
By James Lewis on March 11, 2016Below is an extended version of a review of Jack Ward Thomas’s new set of books originally written for the Journal of Forestry by FHS historian Jamie Lewis. All three books were published in 2015 by the Boone and Crockett Club and each retails for $24.95. Forks in the Trail: A Conservationist’s Trek to the Pinnacles of Natural…
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Forgotten Characters from Forest History: Turp and Tine
By Eben Lehman on February 4, 2016Everyone knows Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl, and maybe even Ranger Rick Raccoon, but there are many other forest and forestry-related fictional characters that long ago fell by the wayside. Peeling Back the Bark‘s series on “Forgotten Characters from Forest History” continues with Part 17, in which we examine Turp and Tine. The annals of classic…
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Digging in the FHS Crates: Buzz Martin, the Singing Logger
By James Lewis on January 20, 2016Here in the Alvin J. Huss Archives you’ll find numerous stories of foresters and loggers from years past. Even among these legends, though, some figures still stand just a bit taller. As we continue to dig through the vinyl collection at FHS we find a set of records by one such figure: the one and…
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Digging in the FHS Crates: Lausmann’s Lousy Loggers Band
By Eben Lehman on December 18, 2015Here at Peeling Back the Bark World Headquarters we occasionally like to get our fingers a little dusty by digging through the vinyl record collection in the FHS archives. Our collection may be modest, but it’s full of vintage forest-related audio treasures. One of our favorite items from the collection is undoubtedly the self-titled album…
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2015 Peeling Back the Bark Holiday Gift Guide
By James Lewis on December 11, 2015The holiday season is fully upon us, and we here at Peeling Back the Bark want to make sure your gift-giving needs are covered. Below we feature a few items suitable for all the hard-to-please forest history fans on your holiday gift list. Books are always a great option, and we would be amiss if…
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The Saga of Miss American Green Cross
By Eben Lehman on September 11, 2015This weekend a winner will be crowned at the 89th Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. While we wish all the ladies luck, here at Peeling Back the Bark World Headquarters our favorite Miss America will undoubtedly remain one woman born all the way back in 1928. Miss American Green Cross, as she is known,…
