Cradle of Forestry commemorates anniversary of Society of American Foresters

Press release from FIND Outdoors

The Cradle of Forestry, located in the heart of Pisgah National Forest and operated by local nonprofit FIND Outdoors, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Appalachian section of the Society of American Foresters recently.

The special event took place at the end of January in Asheville, NC, in which the Cradle of Forestry was presented with a Representative Statement from Larry Strickland, a member of the North Carolina 28th District House of Representatives, as well as a Governor’s Proclamation from SC Governor Henry McMaster and a Senate Joint Resolution from the Virginia State Senate.

To honor the founding of the Appalachian Section, the meeting was dedicated to early-day foresters who held the very first organizational meeting in Asheville on October 28th and 29th in 1921. This section is comprised of more than 1,200 foresters and other natural resource professionals from North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the mission of the Society of American Foresters is to advance the sustainable management of forest resources through science, education, and technology, while promoting professional excellence and ensuring the continued health, integrity and use of all forests for the betterment of society.

As part of its centennial celebration, a monument was also installed at the Cradle of Forestry in America in 2021 as a cooperative effort with the US Forest Service and FIND Outdoors, the nonprofit organization that partners with the Forest Service to operate the Cradle.

“We’re extremely pleased to partner with the Society of American Foresters in this endeavor,” stated Jeff Owenby, Director of the Cradle of Forestry and Forest Service representative.

The profession of forestry has a strong connection to western North Carolina. George Vanderbilt hired the very first trained American forester in Gifford Pinchot, who managed his Biltmore Estate in 1895. Pinchot wrote and implemented the first scientific forest management plan in the United States based on the work that he was conducting at the estate.

Following Pinchot’s departure, Vanderbilt went on to hire a German forester, Dr. Carl Schenck, to replace him. Schenck, in turn, opened the first professional school of forestry in the U.S. in 1898, called the Biltmore Forest School, with Vanderbilt’s blessing, and a new era of forest management was created.

Today, these significant “firsts” in the heart of Pisgah are celebrated at the Cradle of Forestry, a 6,500-acre campus that houses a learning center, interpretive trails, programs, special events, and historic buildings. The Cradle is open April – November and is located on Hwy. 276 north approximately 14 miles from downtown Brevard, NC.

For more information, please visit GoFINDoutdoors or call 828- 883-FIND.

About FIND Outdoors

FIND Outdoors, formerly the Cradle of Forestry in America Interpretive Association, is a 50-yearold 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Pisgah Forest, NC. We serve over 900,000 visitors annually with a mission that promotes educational, recreational and interpretive opportunities about forest and water resources, natural history and the Cradle of Forestry in America. FIND Outdoors proudly manages campgrounds, visitor centers, sales outlets and educational facilities on public lands in North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia and Indiana and the Northwest Trading Post on the Blue Ridge Parkway. FIND accomplishes its mission by providing exceptional outdoor experiences through partnership opportunities for the health, safety and education of all visitors to local and regional public and private lands.