Gifford Pinchot

Gifford Pinchot was the first professional forester in the United States and a key voice for environmental conservation at the turn of the twentieth century. As the head of the Division of Forestry (1898–1905) and later the newly created U.S. Forest Service (1905– 10), he charted a path between preservationists, who wanted wilderness lands to be set aside, and business leaders, who wanted unlimited access to extract resources. Pinchot viewed the environment as a resource that must be sustainably managed by the government for “the greatest good to the greatest number for the longest time.”