forestry school in the United States. - ScholarsArchive at Oregon ...

The Beginnings 11
to get. Yet he chose to go after a sizable sum. In his first report in 1900, he
stated: "The establishment of a School of Forestry. . . cannot be done.
with any means which are now in prospect. It is doubtful whether the work
should be undertaken unless an annual income of $20,000 to $30,000 is
assured." Later, he was to pare down this amount but not enough to pass the
legislature.
He sought endowments from private sources but "always met with the
reply that this is something the state should provide."22 Thus, his decision
was to ask a special biennium appropriation of $25,000 from the 1903
legislature.
To stimulate support for such legislation, Wheeler brought Fernow to
Berkeley for a series of lectures in the 1902 summer session. Also, he asked
help from the California Club and the California Water and Forest Association.
The Fernow series included nine public evening lectures by sterioptican
and a three-week, one-unit course of five lectures per week. The stated object
of the credit course was "to give a comprehensive view of the whole subject
of forestry with sufficient detail of technical aspects and methods of the art."
Help from the California Club
The still active California Club of San Francisco has the distinction of
having sponsored the first forestry school bill introduced in the state legislature.
This club of public-spirited women was organized in 1897 and
incorporated in 1902 "to aid through organized effort. . . whatever tends
to the best interests of the City and State." The forest school bill of 1903 was
one of its first major projects.
In March, 1902, Wheeler suggested that the club pay the expense of
bringing Fernow to California. Unable to afford the $500 asked for, the club,
as evidence of its interest, contributed "$10.00 to pay the fee of some student
who would otherwise be unable to take the course." And a few months later,
the minutes of its Board of Directors recorded a Mrs. Harndon and a Mrs.
Scoville as actively helping Wheeler in his effort to establish a forestry
school. The University Regents' minutes for November 11, 1903, recorded
as "laid over" the club's request for endorsement of its bill. Subsequently the
club distributed copies of a proposed bill and a flyer which said:' "The need
of guarding against forest fires and of lumbering tracts, so that the industry
may be permanent, necessitates the establishment of a School of Forestry,
where a sufficient corps of trained men may be graduated to take charge of
the forests and administer them scientifically. . . . This is a vital necessity
to California. . . In view of the vast and many sided interests involved, your
help is solicited to secure from the Legislature an appropriation. .
The California Federation of Women's Clubs, whose forestry committee
was chaired by the wife of the distinguished botanist J. G. Lemmon, backed
the bill strongly.
The Federation's Club Life in January, 1903, carried a lead article, "A
Forestry School in the State University," pointing out the great need, and
containing a copy of the proposed bill and the full text of the California Club
flyer.
22 Wte, 2,d Forest, October, 1902, p. 11.