Bracketed cleanly between the 1898 establisment of the Division of Forestry in the Department of Agriculture and that of the Forestry Division in the Department of Interior in 1901 was the birth, on February 4, 1900, of Leonard Field Kellogg. Only ten months affter his birth the Society of American Foresters was chartered. The man and the profession and the century have grown apace.

Most Americans find it difficult to conceive a land ethic for tomorrow. The pastoral American of a century ago, whose conservation insights were undeveloped, has been succeeded by the asphalt American of the 1960’s, who is shortsighted in other ways. Our sense of stewardship is uncertain partly because too many of us lack roots in the soil and the respect for resources that goes with such roots. Too many of us have mistaken material ease and comfort for the good life. Our growing dependence on machines has tended to mechanize our response to the world around us and has blunted our appreciation of the higher values.

To the mass mind, conservation is being stressed as some form of outdoor recreation. The values which accrue from healthy outdoor sports should not be discounted, but this emphasis alone indicates an educational vacuum by many who profess to be leaders.