Ohio Society of American Foresters Records

By Philip Perry, Forester, Athens, Ohio, Retired Silviculturist from the Wayne National Forest, (silviculture is the art and science of growing trees.)

This post provides context for the Ohio Society of American Foresters Records (MSS093) , housed at the Mahn Center. There have been many additions to the collection over the years, the most recent addition was from April 2022 and was incorporated into the collection and finding aid by Philip. The collection is currently 9.3 cubic feet or 10 boxes large and includes material relating to OSAF from 1948 to 2017.

Abstract outline of a person with a hardhat one is holding abstracted leaves from various tree species. — *Silviculture is growing trees – USDA, Forest Service, State & Private Forestry 1975.*

Multi-colored map of Ohio — *Natural Vegetation of Ohio, Ohio Biological Survey, 1966.*

The OSAF was organized in 1948. It includes two student chapters of forestry students at Ohio State University in Columbus and Hocking College in Nelsonville. To find more information about OSAF and forestry in Ohio go to the website at www.safohio.org and for the national SAF at www.eforester.org .

The Ohio SAF newsletter is called the Hetuch, supposedly an American Indian name for a buckeye meaning the eye of the buck deer. The Hetuch, code of ethics, bylaws, membership directories, minutes, financial information, correspondences, policies, forest management reports, and other material from the Ohio SAF is stored at the Mahn Center for Archives at Alden Library and can be available for viewing. A finding aid for the collection is available here .

5 images of trees and people and a squirrel in the forest on the cover of — Crop Tree Management in Eastern Hardwoods – USDA, Forest Service, NA-TP-19-93, 1994.

The members of the Ohio Society of American Foresters (OSAF) are professional foresters that live or work in Ohio. OSAF is one of 30 state or multi-state societies within the national Society of American Foresters (SAF). The mission of the Society of American Foresters is to advance sustainable management of forest resources through science, education, and technology, promoting professional excellence while ensuring the continued health, integrity, and use of forests to benefit society in perpetuity. The SAF was established by Gifford Pinchot and seven other professional foresters in 1900. Pinchot was the first American forester and the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.

In addition to “traditional foresters” who plan woodland management, OSAF members also include urban foresters who plan the management of the forests within our communities. Foresters prepare plans and manage forests on private and public lands, prepare plans and manage trees within urban areas, work for forest industries, are consulting foresters that provide management for private landowners, teach forestry at colleges and other schools, and conduct research to improve forest management. Foresters coordinate management with other professionals such wildlife biologists, biologist, ecologist, wildfire behavior experts, soil scientists, and others to insure ecologically sound management.