The Society of American Foresters was founded by Gifford Pinchot and six other pioneer foresters in 1900. It is the official organization representing the profession of forestry in the United States. Through membership in the society foresters unite to increase scientific knowledge of forestry, to shape the policies of forestry, and promote good forest management. The territory within the jurisdiction of what is now the Inland Empire Section was at one time part of the Northern Rocky Mountain Section. In 1937 the Northern Idaho sub-section was formed under the temporary chairmanship of E.C. Rettig, and a constitution was adopted on April 9, 1938. In 1941 the sub-section was given full stature and became the Inland Empire Section. On May 1, 1981, after a period of reorganization at the national level, the section became known as the Society of American Foresters – Inland Empire Section.
The Society of American Foresters – Inland Empire Section records span the years 1938-1996, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1960 to 1982. Included in the papers are both local and national minutes of meetings, reports on forestry related issues including RARE II, correspondence, community involvement projects, and VHS recordings.
Collection is open for research.
The records of the Society of American Foresters – Inland Empire Section were donated to the University of Idaho Library in the spring of 1978, with subsequent records added March 25, 1985 by Joe Carbone and Joseph Ulliman. More records were donated by members of the Inland Empire Section in January 1992 (MA 1992-01), and in May 2002 (MA 2002-18).
The records which were deposited in 1978 had been reviewed by society member Hank Schlueter who arranged them chronologically; these records retain that arrangement. The subsequent records were in labeled file folders, but were in no apparent order. The processor sorted this material into two series, national office material and Inland Empire Section material. The latter group was then subdivided by subject or record type. Original folder headings were retained when possible.
The first series contains minutes of local meetings, copies of reports read at meetings, correspondence, membership lists, and section newsletters.
The second series contains the national constitution and bylaws, manuals, minutes and other material concerning annual conventions, especially the 1980 convention held in Spokane and hosted by the Inland Empire Section, minutes from the House of Section Delegates and the Council, as well as information on the Foresters Fund. Also included are printed volumes of forest policies and positions, and a selection of brochures.
The third series is the records of the Inland Empire Section from 1967 to 1984 which include the constitution and bylaws, executive council minutes and correspondence, budgets, minutes and other material including photographs, concerning annual meetings, material from the several chapters comprising the IE Section, and issues of Western Forester, which was published by the joint office as a newsletter for the northwest region. There are also reports and policy statements dealing with such subjects as grizzly bear habitat, forest practices in Idaho, and roadless areas. On February 29, 1976, the Spokesman Review published a special supplement on forestry which was taken from articles submitted by the Inland Empire Section. The working copies for articles in this supplement, and correspondence relating to it, are in the final subseries. The forth series is the records of the Inland Empire Section from 1975 to 1996 which were minimally processed and seem to contain materials that might fill in any gaps in the material from the third series.
The first processing arrangement of the manuscript group in 1985 was retained, with the materials from the 2002 accession added next and followed by the 1992 accession. This created the fourth series which covers the Inland Empire Section's records from 1975-1996.
The records of the Society of American Foresters – Inland Empire Section were in the possession of members of the Inland Empire Section until time of donation.
Photographer, "Title," date. Collection name, object ID. University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives, Moscow, ID.
Author, Description or "Title" of item, date. Collection name, collection number, box, folder. University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives, Moscow, ID.
This collection was processed using the Basic processing method. Some materials were refoldered. During the original processing of the manuscript group duplicate copies of reports, manuals, and circular letters were discarded. One computer generated list of section members for each year was retained, others were discarded. In all, about 2 cubic feet of material was removed. While processing the new accessions, before adding the new material to the original manuscript group, publications were removed. This reduced the two accessions by 1 cubic foot total.
Publications were removed and placed into a separate manuscript group Conservation Reports and Publications (MG 449).
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with Copyright Laws (17 U.S.C.) and any other applicable statutes.
Some of the materials in this collection were digitized and added to the digital