A Photographic History of The Florida Division of Forestry

6
th
Edition

These Photographs and Articles
are a collection from the Florida
State Archives, Private
Collections, Newspapers,
Magazines
And Division of Forestry
Training Slides
For Further Information or Questions
Contact: William Wright
wrightwc@doacs.state.fl.us
wrightw@gtcom.net
(850) 838-2299
3/ 2/ 2006
A Special Note of Thanks For Their Contributions To This
Publication Goes to Mike Long, Andy Lee, Dick Cane, Jimmy
Kramer, Rayburn Palmer, Linda Gainous, Ira Jolly, John Fish,
Sam Leneave, Rich Gordon, Larry Morse, Gene Morse,
Charles Maynard And Ruby Welch.

Formerly titled A Photographic History of Forest Fire Fighting Equipment in Florida

This booklet was created to hopefully make the reader; aware of the great part The
Florida Division of Forestry has had in the history of Forestry and Forest Fire fighting in
our State.
The Florida Division of Forestry has served our state with distinction since 1928.
One of the reasons the Division of Forestry has been as successful and steadfast as an
organization within this state, has been its ability to adapt and always move forward as
times, technology and public needs have changed.
I believe having a historical perspective of our organization helps in this respect,
sometimes we need to look back at where we have come from, in order to get a clearer
picture of where we are going. The dictionary defines a Landmark as any prominent or
conspicuous object, feature or event that serves as a guide. I would submit to you that the
folks of the old Florida Forest Service and The Florida Division of Forestry, who have
preceded us, have left many landmarks to look back on that will serve as guides to keep
us on course. The greatest legacy that the men and women of The Florida Forest Service
have left us is much more than can be contained in old photographs, articles or this
booklet. The legacy and challenge they leave us is the fact that through their hard work,
dedication to purpose and innovation, we exist as a state agency today. When you look at
The Florida Forest Service from the day of its birth in 1928 until today, you will see a
history of forward movement and thinking, tempered with good old common sense.
There was a willingness to try new methods and new tecnologies, and if they proved to
be better adopt them, if not to lay them aside. Many times The Florida Forest Service
through necessity, pioneered new methods and machines for reforestation and forest fire
fighting, which other states modeled after. It is definitely no stretch of the truth in saying,
the forest industry in Florida is what it is today because of their efforts in Reforestation
and Fire Control. Hopefully this booklet will stir your interest in the history of this great
organization and foster an appreciation of its place in the history of our great state.

William Wright

History of Fire Control
State Of Florida

For decades, the wood using industry held first place in the industrial life
of Florida. But after World War 1, in the early 1920s, Florida had 17
million acres of cutover and burned-over forestland, and six million acres
of virgin timber, which were rapidly being cut. There was a general lack of
interest in forestry.
In 1923, the Florida Forestry Association was formed in an effort to
create an interest in, and improve the conditions of, Forestry in the state.
Finally, in 1927, the Association was able to get enough support from the
legislature to pass an act setting up the Florida Board of Forestry. Two
of the Boards functions were to Prevent and Extinguish Forest Fires and
Enforce all laws pertaining to forests and wild lands.
The Board appointed a State Forester in 1928, Mr. Harry L. Baker, and
during the first fiscal year there was $12,500 in State funds to begin the
forestry program. That year 700,000 acres in the northern part of the State
were placed under protection. This protection consisted of (1) individual
demonstrations in which the Florida Forest Service provided detection
and communications and the landowner fought his own fires and (2) Group
Units. A minimum of 80,000 acres was necessary to form a group unit.
In 1929 H.A. Smith became the first Forest Service (FFS) Chief of
Fire Control. Up until then, State Forester Harry Lee Baker had directed
the fire control work. By this time there were three District Foresters. The
state appropriation for fiscal year 1929-30 was $60,000. By the end of
1929, one million acres were under protection. The forest service had five
District Foresters, and 1, 4000,000 acres were under protection in 1930.
The percent burned was 4.3. The outstanding feature of the work that year
was a Demonstration Fire Break Project a program to get landowners to
plow fire lines. Equipment in the program consisted of eight tractors. By
1931 experimental work was underway by The Forest Service in the
development of fire fighting equipment, a four disc plow was developed;
also a rotary transmission pump outfit for use on 11/2 ton Chevrolet and
Ford heavy- duty firefighting equipment.
By 1932 there were 22 lookout towers and 9 crows nest which were
pole lookouts 45 to 70 feet high. They were manned part time by
cooperators and FFS crews. There were 250 miles of telephone lines for
communications; 10 firefighting trucks equipped with power pumps; 11
rangers; 22 tower men; and 5 patrolmen.
Duval County became the first County Unit in 1932, and was
followed by Hillsborough County in 1934. In 1935 the State Legislature
passed the County Fire Control Law, authorizing County Commissioners
to enter into agreements with the FFS. Radio was introduced in 1936 as
a means of communications at Dinsmore in Duval County. This was one-
way communication, tower to crew. Equipment added in 1936 included 6
35 HP Diesel Tractors; 8 Athens Harrows; 4 Settlemire Plows; and 15
half- ton trucks equipped with pumps, tanks, etc.
Henry J. Malsberger
State Forester 1939 - 1945
Harry L. Baker
C.H. Hux Coulter

In 1935-36, monies available from all sources
amounted to $244,000 and this was for Forestry and
Parks. During the 11-year period from 1937 to 1948,
ten counties came under protection. In location,
these ranged from Bay to Volusia, Pinellas, and
Dade, bringing the protected area to 7,500,000 acres.
In 1949 and 1950, an additional 18 counties were
brought into the protection system, giving a total of
12,600,000 acres. By this time, Forestry and Parks
had been separated and the amount available to the
Board of Forestry for these years was $1,750,000.
There was a 2.9 percent burn in 1950.
As the counties came under protection, the
number of Individual Demonstrations and Group
Units decreased. Between 1957 and 1967, 16
counties contracted to receive protection and this
brought the 1967 acreage to 19 million. The 1967
percent burn was 0.7. The 1966-67 fiscal year funds
available for forestry amounted to $4,300,000. The
protection system then totaled 56 counties.
By the end of 1972, the remaining counties were
covered. The percentage of the protected area burned
was 0.29 on 25,941,374 acres of forest and wild
lands. The appropriation for 1972-73 was
$11,300,000.
Over the years, much hard work by dedicated
employees has gone into accomplishing statewide
fire control. And we have progressed from
indiscriminate burning and cutting-over of
forestlands to a highly favorable percentage
burn on well-stocked forestlands and wild
areas in normal years.
(This article is an excerpt from the 1983
Florida Fire Fighters guide)

Harold K. Mikell, Director
1987 - 1992
L. Earl Peterson, Director
1992 - 2003
John M. Bethea, Director
1969 - 1987
Mike C. Long, Director
2003 - Present

Harry Lee Baker
5
Harry Lee Baker, the first State Forester, was a man of the highest integrity. He was impatient with
incompetence at all levels of government employment. He was hard nosed about every facet of the job to
be done. He wanted to know the reason for any situation he did not understand. He would change his mind
if you could prove within a reasonable doubt that you knew what you were talking about.
His underlying motive in forestry was that we could not contribute to devastation. He was a high advocate
of the free enterprise system and wanted the state government to only operate in the vacuum where the free
enterprise system could not or would not meet its responsibility.
He did not believe in using ad valorem taxation as a retardant or incentive to do good forestry.
Mr. Baker recognized the problem of small forest landowners. He died before he expound on his
convictions. Basically they were to treat each acre and each problem for their individual needs.
It was during Mr. Bakers tenure in the office of State Forester that much of the land for our state forests
and park system was acquired by donation or by purchase from a special legislative fund. A great deal of
tax delinquent land was acquired for a very few dollars.
Harry Lee Baker believed in professional foresters but not to their exclusion in the field of working with
the public to get the job done. He wanted the best man for the job regardless of his education or pedigree.
Results were all that counted with Mr. Baker. He had learned many ways of doing it wrong and he did not
care to repeat his mistakes.
Mr. Bakers dynamic thinking was always foremost in his actions. He was ready to accept the new if it
offered good possibilities of getting the job done. Harry Lee Baker was loyal to his competent employees.
It was this loyalty that cost him his job as he refused to yield to the prevailing political pressures from
above concerning employment of a relative of the pressure point.
Mr. Baker started the first state seedling nursery and worked with the Naval Stores industry, which was
dominant at that time. He recognized that expanded uses of timber products were the problem not ad
valorem taxes. He realized that the pulpwood market would expand the market for the small
unmerchantable timber that remained after the cut out and get out policy of the existing saw mill
industry. He encouraged the pulp industry to move to Florida and this has been the turning point for forest
management in the state. No other person has contributed so much in such a short time under such adverse
conditions.
(This Article Was Written By Mr. Frank Hill)

1933 newspaper article

Harry Lee Baker
State Forester Harry Lee
Baker watching Governor
Sholtz signing forestry bills
1935
Photo: Florida State Archives

Stone marker in memory of State Forester Harry
Lee Baker located at Blackwater River State
Forest in the Red Rock Picnic grounds. L-R:
Commissioner of Agriculture Doyle Conner,
Former Forestry director, C. H. Coulter, Rep. Ed
Fortune, Division of Forestry Director John M.
Bethea, Judge E. W. Carswell.


Hux Coulters Office
Left to right: Hux Coulter, John Bethea, Ed Moore, R.A. Bonninghausen,
B.C. Leynes
Hux Coulter, (first man on the left) at the Florida Forest Service District 5
Headquarters. District Forester, Ed Sweeten is at the Podium Speaking

1938

An Interview with Hux Coulter

(Editors Note: C.H.Coulter, a Canadian by birth, came to Florida
In 1928, and was State Forester from 1945 until 1969.)

A turpentine quarters was really a whole community, complete with a jook, a commissary, and a frame
church. Every cabin had a chinaberry tree.
(And thats the way it was. Forty-five years ago, when turpentining was at its peak- and the golden age of
logging Floridas virgin timber was drawing to an end.)
For a special Bicentennial feature, the reporter interviewed Hux Coulter, who is now retired, but who became
involved in forestry at its organized beginning in Florida in the late 20s.
During his career, Mr. Coulter was instrumental in establishing Floridas first forest seedling nursery. His
experimentation with slash pine helped establish helped establish it as the chief timber tree. He also worked
to improve naval stores technology an assignment that put him in touch with some 200 turpentine operators
scattered over the northern two-thirds of the state.
I came to Florida in connection with an assignment by the U.S. Forest Service. My father was a railway mail
clerk in Ontario, Canada; my mother had been born in Windsor.
My coming to Florida was temporary to help with establishing tree seedling nurseries so landowners might
be fully encouraged to grow timber. Here the forests were in much the same condition that they were
elsewhere in the South. The Florida Forest Service, then in its infancy, had hired a U.S. Forest Service
veteran, Harry Lee Baker, as the first State Forester. He began, with an annual budget of just $12,500, to rally
public interest in protecting and replanting the scarred forest.
There was an immediate and urgent need to find a fast-growing hardy commercial species. Slash pine
seemed to offer the strongest possibilities.
Why? Unlike longleaf pine, it could be planted either fairly shallow or fairly deep and survival would be
good. For longleaf, planting had to be precise so the bud would be just above the ground line. But this
needed to be proven. We were given nursery space at Raiford Prison to test some 21 species.
In October 1928 I enlisted the help of the Schelle-Sasse Millwork Company in Jacksonville to use some of
their drying equipment after hours. The purpose was to dry pine cones to extract the seed. They let me
borrow long glue box-the type then used for gluing millwork.
(Working the borrowed, makeshift drier in the evenings, the young forester spent his days combing Starke for
good-quality cones. These he gathered either from the woods or by paying local people to supply them. Most
of the cone suppliers were honest. One, he found however, bragged about his fine pine burrs but brought in
cones that were already opened!)
Another chapter of the early Florida Forest Service was navel stores. The Florida Forest Service began
rendering assistance in the production of gum, its manufacture into turpentine and rosin in late 1931. Mr. G.P.
Shingler of Donalsonville, Georgia, with the US Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, brought to Florida
specifications for efficient, modern turpentine still, controlled with a recording thermometer. The Forest
Service aided the turpentine operators in the construction of this government-style still by staying with them
from about Monday morning early until Thursday or Friday night when the still would be completed and ready
for the finishing touches. (As a naval stores technologist, Mr. Coulter supervised the installation of around 30
stills built to these specifications.) But one improved method operators got upset about was the 10-ounce
nursing bottles that were used to check the turpentine and water as it came out of the worm
tailpipe to give them a better idea of how the charge was running. (If a smokey line developed between the
turpentine and water in the nursing bottle, it indicated that the rosin was scorching and the fire was to hot.)So
all these things with the recording thermometer and putting these old, experienced Stillers on the nursing
bottle-Why, wasnt too well-received by some of these people, but usually when they saw the advantages of
the newfangled government methods, they would come around Pretty well. The owner particularly realized
how valuable they were for getting a better product and lowering the risk of the still catching on fire.

Article from Florida Forestry Reporter, 1976

Government Plan Still, 1932
Kettle Set in Place
Government Plan
Still, 1937

The Florida Forest Services Mr. Hux Coulter
supervised the installation of around 30
Turpentine stills built to these specifications.
Photos: Florida State Archives

Hux Coulter inspecting a fire damaged turpentine pine
1930s

State Forester Hux Coulter planting a sabal palm beside the marker placed by the
Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, which commemorates Gov. Dan McCartys
signing into law the designation of the sabal palm as the State Tree. This is taking
place on the Capital grounds in 1965

C.H. (Hux) Coulter

State Forester C.H. Coulter and Commissioner of Agriculture Doyle Conner at a Florida State
Nursery
Hux Coulter and Harold Mikell, with a group of Florida Forest Service Trainees
Photo: Rayburn Palmer

Service Awards 1954
(Left to right) Hux Coulter (25 years) - Mr. Eubanks (25 years) - Lois Young (15 years) - George
Gary (20 years) - Clayton Welch (15 years) - R.A. Bonninghausen (15 years) - Ruth Roberts (15
years) - B.C. Leynes (15 years)
(Photo: Mrs. Ruby Welch)
Ed Sweeten
District Forester, Lakeland District (Old District 5)

Early Florida Forest Service Pamphlet
Page1 Cover

Page 2 Page 3
(Early FFS Pamphlet Continued)

1932

1936
Newspaper Article

1930s
1940s

1958

1930s
This material courtesy of Mr. Mike Long

Wooden Fire Tower and Work Center

The Florida Forest Service offers three types of cooperation to landowners and counties that
are interested in preventing and controlling fires that might lay waste their forest land.

Individual Agreement
Where the landowner or resident manager lives on the property and has
sufficient labor to fight all fires adequately, and pay three cents an acre a year, which is
matched by a similar amount from State and Federal funds, fire lines are plowed, hand
and power fire-fighting equipment is purchased and, on areas large enough to provide
the funds from the cooperative budget, towers and telephone lines are erected, tower
men are employed to detect fires, and the services of a ranger are available to assist the
landowners in organizing and training fire-fighting crews, taking charge of law-
enforcement cases, and carrying on educational work to prevent fires.

Group Units
This method of protection is available to those individuals or groups of landowners,
owning 30,000 acres or more, who do not have manpower available, or are otherwise
unable to protect their lands without our assistance. In these cases, the owners pay from
five to eight cents an acre a year that is matched by three cents of State and Federal
funds. The same improvement and equipment are provided as outlined for the Individual
Agreement. The Florida Forest Service, however, employs a ranger who is responsible
for organizing and directing the fire prevention and control work.

County Cooperation
Boards of County Commissioners can now hold referendum elections of the people to
decide whether they want to establish counties or parts of counties, as fire control units. The
State and counties cooperate on a 50-50 basis up to a specified limit, when State and Federal
funds are available. The work is conducted in a similar manner to that described under the
Group Unit plan.

(From An Early Florida Forest Service Pamphlet)

1930s


Early Firefighting Training Graphics

Seedlings packed to ship
Raiford 1932
Longleaf Seedlings
Raiford 1931
Boarded Seed Beds
Raiford 1930
Seedbed Raiford 1929
In 1929, the Florida Forest Service began a reforestation program producing pine
seedlings for sale to Florida landowners in order to encourage them to replace the
trees that had been harvested during the early cut-out and get-out years. The first
nursery was at the state prison at Raiford but was moved in 1934 to Olustee

Olustee Nursery
Nursery and Welcome Sign 1936
Grading Seedlings Olustee Nursery
Office 1939
Seedlings Prepared For
Shipment 1936

One Of the Early Tree Planting Demonstrations Carried out by
Hux Coulter was at the E.A. McColskey property near Lake City in
1928

History of the Cooperative Forest Management Program

Prior to 1932, there was no technical aid in forest management for small woodland ownership except for the
limited time that regular foresters of the Service could give them. A Naval Stores agent was employed in 1932 to
aid operators and their workers.

In June, 1938 the Florida Board of Forestry and Parks appointed a full-time farm forestry extension agent. In
September, 1938, the Naval Stores agent began to devote part of his time to farm forestry work.

The Norris-Doxey Law, enacted by Congress in 1939, authorized cooperative aid to farm woodland owners. In
April, 1940, the Florida Forest Service established a forest farming project in Columbia County in cooperation
with the United States Forest Service and the Florida Agriculture Extension Service. A technical forester,
assigned fulltime to the project, assisted those landowners whose major income was or could be obtained from
their woodlands. A month later, the Florida Forest Service, cooperating with the soil Conservation Service, set
up a farm forestry project at Chipley. The emphasis here and with subsequent projects was management of farm
woodlands to supplement farm income. Gradually, other projects were established until seven were in operation.

The legislature of 1941 passed the County Forestry Law which permitted the Service to employ foresters in
cooperation with the counties. Duties of a county forester were essentially the same as those of a farm forester.
By 1952, three projects had been authorized.

The Cooperative Forest Management Act of 1950 cancelled and superseded the old Norris-Doxey Farm Forestry
Act. Federal cooperative funds were made available to state foresters or equivalent officials to help provide
limited technical assistance to any ownership, regardless of size. The Norris-Doxey Act had restricted aid to
farm woodlands. By July, 1963, sixty-two of Floridas sixty-seven counties were receiving Cooperative Forest
Management (Farm Forestry) service from twenty-nine foresters. Of these, forty-five were intensive projects.
Seventeen South Florida counties were serviced extensively.

The 1971 Florida Legislature passed a law permitting the Florida Division of Forestry to enter into contracts
with municipalities. The purpose of these contracts is to establish urban forestry projects. Fort Lauderdale was
the first community to contract for a man-year of forestry assistance. Jacksonville had the first forester
functioning primarily in an urban setting.

1954 1955

1929
1936 Newspaper
Article
This article courtesy of Mr. Mike Long

Alford and Company Demonstration
near Chipley, 1936

1954
1955
Loading Cones

Forester Is Named For
Taylor County
Tallahassee, September 30.
State Forester C. H. C oulter today announced the appointment
of Erdman West Jr.; as county forester for Taylor County. West
is the first county forester employed under the county forester act
passed by the 1941 legislature.
Wests duties will include assisting all timberland owners and
especially small owners in making their timberlands a productive
part of their land holdings. He will advise and assist landowners
in selective marking, cruising and marketing of forest products,
and advise landowners in the management for future operations
on his timberlands. He will inform the public on the future of
forestry in this area, and how it can be increased by proper
handling and marketing of the forest products. His activities will
apply only to the area of Taylor County. A native of Gainesville,
West took a BS degree in forestry at the University of Florida in
1940 and immediately after graduation went into the Army as an
officer in the reserve corps. Released from the Army in
November, 1945 West went to Laurens, South Carolina, where he
was employed with a pulpwood company. He is married and has
two children.
Erdman West
1996
Taylor County
Newspaper Article,
1946

1954
Madison County
Florida
Headquarters

Andrews
Nursery near
Chiefland
was put into
Operation in
1956
M. D. Andrews

In 1939 Backwater
River State Forest was
leased by the Forestry
Board from the U.S.
Department of
Agriculture
Planting Pines on
BlackWater River State
Forest 1963
Black Water River State Forest
Shop 1968

The Florida Board of
Forestry purchased
Pine Log State Forest
in 1936
Cary State
Forest was
purchased in
1937
A Lease-Purchase
Agreement with the
Federal government in
1958 put the
Withlacoochee State
Forest under State
Operation

Brooksville Man
Appointed To
Florida Forest Job

Tallahassee - Frank N. Gibson Jr. Brooksville, has been appointed
Information and Education Assistant for the Tallahassee district of the
Florida Forest Service according to State Forester C.H. Coulter. Gibson
who attended Florida State University received his Bachelor of Science
degree last year. In his college work he assisted Prof. Henry Becker of
Florida State University with his work in resource use education for the
public school system. He has been employed by the State Road
Department since his graduation.
A native to Florida Gibson attended public schools in Brooksville. He
served with the Navy during the last war, receiving his discharge in
1946. His duties with the state forest service will include educational
programs concerning forestry, talks and film showings before private
and civic clubs in this area. Gibsons headquarters will be at the forest
service headquarters on the Perry High-Way.

Frank Gibson (right) in 1955 presenting Mr. F. McMillan, of
the Mengal Company, its Tree Farm certification for the
companys 12,000-acre timber tract.
1952, Newspaper Article

Nelson Blocker 1975
District Forester Nelson Blocker
By Doug H. Epperson

Nelson Blockers forestry experience began back in the
CCC camp days when he worked for the Florida Forest
Service in the days of the Mountie Hat and Jodphurs,
plus 12 years of private consulting. He has the
distinction of having worked under every Director who
has ever headed the state forestry service in Florida.
These were; Harry Lee Baker, Henry J. Malsberger,
C.H. Coulter and the present director John M. Bethea.
Most of his consulting work was in the natural forest
stands of Florida, a great deal of it as consultant to the
newly established paper industries during their rapid
expansion and before they formed their own forestry
organizations for management of their lands. In 1958
Blocker came back to the Forest Service as Assistant
District Forester in Lake City, and served both in that
position and as County Forester until assuming the post
of District Forester in 1973. He is a member of the
Florida Forestry Association, American Tree farm
System, Florida Campground Association, Florida Trail
Association and International Society of Tropical
Foresters.

(Article from: Florida Forestry Reporter 1976)

Inverness Fair 1949

Taylor Fire line Plow 1930

Early Pumper in Action
1930s Transport and Tractor

Cat RD4 Pulling a Hand
Crank Plow, 1936
Hester 1 Disc Plow
1930
Hester 5 Disc Plow,
1940

Florida
Forest
Service 1953
Fire fighting
Unit
With Hester
Plow
Athens Harrows 1934 Madison County
Fairbanks-Morse Hand Pump 1931
Florida Forest Service Truck and Equipment

Florida Forest Service Fire Fighting Unit 1950s
Florida Forest Service Tractor Plow unit 1953
Florida Forest Service Brush Truck 1950s
Florida Forest Service Truck with Plow

Florida Forest Service Truck and Tractor
Fighting Fire 1950s
Fire Fighting 1940s
Florida Forest Service, 1952 Unit

Hand Crank Plow converted to Drive Shaft operation
1950s
Tractor and Driveshaft Plow fighting fire

Florida Forest Service Light Fire Truck 1934
Florida Forest Service Van
Florida Forest Service Truck with Plow
McCormick-Deering
Tractor 1934

International TD-9 Tractor
Getting a Tower Cross 1946 Neiland Plow and Tractor
Wheel Tractor Plowing a Fire line

Forest Rangers and Equipment 1959
Plowing a Fire line 1950s
Hand cranked Plow
Tractor on a Fire with
Hand cranked Plow
Unloading Tractor with Hand Cranked Plow, Dixie
County

Forest Ranger Climbing A
Look Out Tower 1930s
Early Pumper Fighting Fire
Early Tractor-Plow Unit


66

Fire Hazard in State Is Decreased

35 landowners are now protecting better than 300,000 acres of land in this part of the state with the
assistance of the Florida Forest Service according to information provided by William F. Jacobs, District
Forester of District 2, which includes Leon, Jefferson, Franklin, Gadsden, Liberty, Wakulla, Madison,
Taylor and the western part of Lafayette county.
Liberty County leads in the district with the largest acreage being protected, a total of 91,651. Madison
County leads in the number of co-operating landowners with a total of 15.
Jacobs states that there are already 7 steel lookout towers serving private landowners in the district and
plans are completed for 4 more, making a total of 11. In addition to these, there are 6 towers already on
federal property within the district and 3 more are contemplated. With the completion of all towers now
proposed, there will be a total of 20 lookout towers giving coverage to practically every wooded section in
the district.
There have been 5 CCC camps operating on private lands in the district, but only three of them are now
in existence. These camps already have provided or are now providing plowed fire breaks, fire control
roads, bridges, and have lowered fire hazards on practically every area under protection.
The camps have also been of assistance to landowners in tree planting, CCC crews having planted
381,335 of the 710,394 trees planted during the season just closed.
In addition to the fire control and tree planting activity, Jacobs reports that the Florida Forest Service
carries on an educational program at all times. Nature study, forestry and conservation materials are
distributed to the schools, and fire control posters are available to landowners at cost. Literature of various
forestry subjects is available free upon request either at the Tallahassee office or to any member of the
Service: speakers are provided various organizations; teaching assistance in farm forestry is given to
agricultural high schools, and three Boy Scout Troops in the district are enrolled in the Scout Forest
Project. A naval stores technician, a wood utilization specialist, and a law enforcement officer also work in
the district when called upon and are always available.
Jacobs stated that anybodys land may be protected but less than 640 acres can be listed for protection
only it adjoins other lands also listed and totals more than 640 acres, or where the landowner himself
agrees to provide the necessary plowed fire-breaks. The cost of fire protection is borne jointly by the
landowner and the Forest Service, the latter contributing 3 cents an acre in all in all cases. He further stated
that the protection is carried on under two plans. Where the acreage is comparatively small, 30,000 acres or
less, the landowner agrees to provide resident management and to assume all responsibility for fire control;
the Forest Service assists him by providing fire tools, plowing fire breaks on the area, and supervising his
fire control program. In most instances, lookout and telephone service are provided also. The cost of this
type of protection involves a budget of 6 cents per acre half of which is borne by the landowner and half by
the Forest Service. The Forest Services share may include ranger, tower, and telephone service, to as
much as 1 and three-quarters cents per acre, leaving 1 and one-quarter cent per acre to contribute to
equipment or fire line cost. The landowner 3 cents goes generally for fire lines, but he may do the plowing
with his own equipment and save himself any cash outlay. Under the second plan, where the acreage is in
excess of 30,000 acres, and the landowner desires it, the Florida Forest Service will undertake the fire
protection of the area, including the employment of personnel to do fire control work. As is the case on
smaller areas, the Forest Service will contribute 3 cents an acre to the funds to carry on the work. The
landowner, however, must contribute 5 to 3 cents per acre, depending upon the acreage involved, in order
to offset the additional cost of hiring men to carry on the work.

(1936 Newspaper Article)

Bulletin #13
1941

Cat tractor pulling a hand crank plow that has been
converted to drive shaft operation
This material courtesy
of Mr. Mike Long
1940s

Motion pictures, arranged in story form, depicting the disadvantages of annual wild fires, were shown
by the two truck outfits in 138 communities in 22 counties; this message reached a total of 30,113 people
between 1930 and 1932
1930s

1955 Newspaper Article

Snapshots from The
Past

Central Florida Fair 1959

Florida Forest Service
District 5 Headquarters
1963
Jacksonville
District
Headquarters 1969
District 3
Headquarters
Sign 1962

1968
Working With FFA, 1962

Communications
Lineman Working on
Tower Telephone Lines
Phoning In a Smoke from the Tower 1940s
The first communication systems
were grounded telephone lines.
In 1936 the first radio system was
used - one way radio from the
tower at Dinsmore to a receiver
in a fire truck No 10-4 signal was
possible. By 1938 a
communications engineer was
added to the Service to take care
of the 6 broadcasting stations, 21
receiving sets, and the telephone
system. In 1939 the first mobile
two-way radios were put into
operation. They were homemade
units.
Getting a smoke reading by phone, 1960s

Dispatch Console, (Early 1970s) Built
by the District Radio Technician
Dispatching From a Fire Tower 1960s

1960
1964 1966
1943

1971
1975
1983
2001

International TD-9
Photo Courtesy: Dick Cane Cat D4-E, 1985
Photo Courtesy: Dick Cane
V Blade on a wide pad Cat D-4 1980s
Cat D-4D 1980s
Fiat Allis 1980s
International TD-15

1964
1972
1984
1989
Bombardiers

International TD-9 and Hand Cranked Plow

Florida Forest Service Field Headquarters
Supper at the Field Kitchen, 1959
Florida Forest Service Field
Kitchen 1959
Morning Coffee
Planning Meeting

1966

Tractor Transport Unit 1958
Blade Tractor and 4 Disc Plow 1962
Cable Operated Blade
Tractor, With 6 Disc
Mathis Plow
Pickup 1958

Dodge Power Wagon 1966
Florida Forest Service Truck 1964
Tractor on a Fire 1960s
Cat D4 1983

TD-9
One of Fire Fightings Best
Tractor-Transport
1958
Power Wagon 1963
TD-9 and Hester Plow

Publications
1974
1972
1943, 3
rd
Edition
1965
1967

July1, 1969

1960

1962

Forester Farmer 1974

Hux Coulter and Governor Leroy Collins, 1959
Hux Coulter and Governor Claude Kirk, 1969

FFS Airplane 1960
Pawnee
Aircraft
Florida Forest
Service Air Fleet

First Aerial
Tanker Used
For Fire
Suppression in
Florida, 1965

PBY being worked on, Tallahassee

T-34s Tallahassee
PBY and T-34

Sky Crane Test
A Joint Test Venture In 1976 between the Division of Forestry and The Army to
develop an airmobile means of delivering forestry fire fighters into the rugged swampy
Everglades terrain of Southern Florida. The test- lift was held at Monroe Station in
Collier County
Getting Strapped Up
Ready to Go
Cat D4 Flying
Fire line Plow

Florida Forest Service Building
Tallahassee 1950s

A History of the Florida Forest
Service in Dixie County, Florida
(As told by Clayton Welch in 1956, to the Dixie County Advocate)
The Florida Forest Service began its operations in Dixie County in 1934 when the
Putnam Tower was built and 30,000 acres were placed under protection. The Holly
Hill Tower was built in 1935 and Ray Sawmill Company placed its 33,000 acres under
protection. In 1937, P.C. Crapps brought in a part of his land and the Hines Tower
was built. That same year the Putnam Lumber Company brought in 70,000 acres
known as Barber pasture and built the Barber Tower, a 120-foot wooden structure,
the highest in the state at that time, E.C. McLeod supervised construction. The
Horseshoe Tower replaced this tower in 1950. In 1938 the Florida Forest Service built
the radio station at Shamrock and connected it by telephone with the fire towers. In
1938, J.C. Welch became Extension Ranger for the area. He has been the chief forest
fire fighter ever since. In 1943 his title was changed to Unit Ranger. Mr. Welch recalls
that some of the worst fires in the history of Dixie County have been in the Bay
Sawmill Pasture. From 9000 to 10,000 acres were burned there in 1932, again in 1936
and again in 1944. The largest and most destructive fire in the history of the area
occurred last spring in the south of Lafayette County and the north end of Dixie
County, 37,000 acres were lost. Most of it was virgin pine timber in muck lands
known locally as the SOG. The fire got out of control because the land was too soft for
a tractor and fire line plow to be used. The only place back firing could be done was
on the roads, and there are not many roads in the SOG. Most of the burned timber
could be salvaged for lumber thankfully, but no live trees were left to re-seed the area.
The Florida Forest Service operates The Dixie Group Fire Control Unit with funds
contributed by the state and by participating landowners. These include, Hudson,
Buckeye, Consolidated, St Regis and several smaller owners. 468,000 acres are under
protection in an area extending from the coast far into Lafayette County. Welch has
as his principle assistants, the following six Rangers: Harry Mathis, Clayton Shaw,
and Brady Starling, Power Wagon Operators and J. W. Hacker, Herbert Futch and
Wilber Driggers, Transport and Fire Plow Operators. There are also 5 Assistant
Rangers, 7 Tower men, and Radio Dispatcher, Francis ONeal. All of Dixie County has
not yet been brought under fire control. About 100,000 acres in the eastern part of the
county are not in the unit. Countywide protection is available, however if voters want
it. It is estimated that the annual cost of such protection would be $52,713, of which
$41,886 would come from state and federal sources, and $10,847 from county taxes, or
about $1.77 per $1000 of assessed valuation. Countywide protection would more than
pay for itself in increased timber yields.

Article from, The Forest Farmer 1970

1946 Fire Tower Recording Sheet

In the West, they say bring us men to match our mountains. To find a man of such status in the South, they
can look straight through the tall pines of Florida. A dynamic creative forester, a successful executive officer,
An outstanding community leader; an active church worker; A devoted family man; a tireless tactician; and a
raconteur of quick wit who is held in high esteem by his peers- this is the collective sum and substance of one
John Melvin Bethea, director of Floridas Division of Forestry.
The light of day first dawned on John Bethea at Sanderson in Baker County, Florida, 54 years ago. After
graduating from Baker County High School in 1937, he moved on to the University of Florida at Gainesville
where the real Bethea talents poured forth. A popular figure on campus, he soon became submerged in an ever
widening range of extra-curricular activities. But it was his undying interest in the green belt of his native
state that led him to a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry in 1941.
His first assignment in the field took him to the panhandle of Florida, where he was employed as an
extension ranger for the Florida Forest Service in the summer of 1941. Hardly had he settled into this
promising assignment when the guns of World War II sounded and John Bethea soon traded the green of his
beloved forest for the green herringbone twills of the U.S. Army. He didnt wait for the draft, he enlisted as a
private in 1941 and, like his every endeavor to succeed, Johns rise through the military ranks was inevitable.
Before the end of hostilities, he had attained the rank of captain in the Army Air Corps (now the Air force). He
completed his military services in 1946, but continued his readiness to serve his country as a member of the
Air Force Reserve. But the tranquil retreat of Floridas lush green forests continued to woo this man from
Sanderson, and just as soon as he could pack his dog tags in the attic trunk, he headed back to the Florida
Forest Service where he resumed his employment, and soon afterward was appointed district forester at his old
station in Panama City.
John Bethea
Floridas dynamic chief forester came up through the ranks extension Ranger to District
Forester, Fire Control Chief and associate Chief he knows the territory!
By: C.W. Moody
State Forestry
Alabama Forestry Commission
Article From: Forest Farmer, 1974
Doyle Conner, John Bethea, Fred Dickinson

He soon rose to the position of assistant fire control chief and, in 1952; he was named chief of
fire control for the Sunshine State. He was quick to recognize that it was going to take a concerted
educational campaign directed at school children, as well as the general public, to compliment his
states efforts in fire control. It was largely through his leadership that demonstrations were
devised to teach landowners how to plow fire lines and fight fires. His methods of controlled
burning became an integral part of Florida forestry practices and were soon noted by other states.
It was in June, 1963 that the big break came, as John Bethea was named Associate State
Forester, a position that required him to share administrative and supervisory responsibilities with
the State Forester. As assistant to the State Forester and deputy administrator for the 1,100-man
agency, Bethea maintained a well beaten path through the aisle of the Florida Legislature, also
serving as legislative liaison for the Board of Forestry.
John Bethea is the one man credited with the prime responsibility for forming the Florida
Section of Society of American Foresters in 1966, and he served as chairman of that organization.
It was in that capacity that he assumed leadership in a series of Forestry projects that left an
impact on the state and national scene. It was that same year, 1966 that Bethea undertook a study
to find ways to streamline the then 38 year old Florida Forest Service. As a result of his study,
Bethea was able recommendations to the State Forester and the Florida Board of Forestry which
eventually brought about a through internal reorganization of the agency. Six large and unwieldy
districts were subdivided in 1968, and 18 smaller, more flexible and effective districts emerged.
Foremost in Betheas plan was the drawing of fire control units in deference to geography, timber
stands, and natural terrain, rather than through political subdivisions. Considerable realignment of
fire fighting units resulted. The final rung of the state forestry ladder was surmounted in January,
1970, when John was named director of the Division of Forestry, Florida Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services. Throughout Johns colorful forestry career, he has held a
major interest in the professional Society of American Foresters. He was the recipient of the
Outstanding Forester of the Year award in 1968, an honor bestowed on him by the SAF Florida
Section. Moreover John served as a member of the national program committee for the 1969
Society of American Foresters at their annual meeting. He was also general chairman of the
steering committee for the SAF Southern Regional Conference in 1971. Active in church work,
John is a steward at St. Pauls Methodist Church in Tallahassee. He is married to the former
Gladwyn Gabriel of Barium Springs, North Carolina. They have one daughter Pamela, who is a
graduate of Florida State University; and a son, Paul, now doing graduate work at Georgia Tech
in Atlanta. But no article on John Bethea would be complete without relating the text of a recent
certificate of award presented him by Doyle Conner, Commissioner of the Florida Department
of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It reads as follows: It is my pleasure today to present to
the Reverend John M. Bethea, the Sage of Cedar Creek, this Poet Laureate Award. It is presented
annually to the department employee who most exemplified the country poet. You have
distinguished yourself in this regard over the years and have the esteem of your peers, fellow
poets and employees. It has been said a true poet never misses an opportunity, and given an
audience will produce. You have certainly come up to this measure and, on occasion, even
surpassed it. You have brought particular acclaim to the Division with your many sterling
performances in the past; however you will probably be remembered most of all for that immortal
utterance- The days are long the weeks are short, and we only have months to work with. We in
the department are sincerely proud of you and look forward to many years of leadership and
inspiration in the field. We in Southern forestry second that motion.

1980

Notes From the Past
1988
1985

MY CAREER WITH THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF FORESTRY
Charles Maynard

After graduating from the University of Georgia in June 1965, with a BS in Forestry, I married and moved to
Pineville, Kentucky. There the Kentucky Division of Forestry employed me as a Service Forester. Within
three years, I became the District Forester over the ten-county district that was headquartered in Pineville.

In the fall of 1970, I was contacted by Florida Division of Forestry Chief of Fire Control, David Smith, and
offered the position of Fire Control Research Coordinator. After some correspondence, I accepted the offer.
My wife, daughter, and I moved to Tallahassee, and I began work with the Florida DOF on December 15,
1970.

My job, as I understood it, was to evaluate new developments in wildfire control and, if applicable, transfer it
to operations in the field. This was a new position, and I soon found out that no one was really sure what the
job fully entailed. My immediate supervisor was Assistant Chief of Fire Control Carey Peeples, and he
pretty much let me develop the job according to needs. Shortly after I was hired, I was assigned a new
graduate from the University of Florida by the name of Jack Vogel as an intern. We both struggled for a
while trying to figure out just what needed to be done.

Ill return to the primary job, but first I would like to recount what was going on in the DOF at the time.
1969 saw the culmination of a revision of the States constitution and the subsequent reorganization of state
government. Prior to that time the forestry agency was known as the Florida Forest Service and was
governed by the Florida Board of Forestry, a board appointed by the Governor. Now the agency has been
merged with the newly named Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services under Commissioner
Doyle Conner. We had become the Florida Division of Forestry, one of eleven divisions under DACS. As
with any such major change, employees who had been around a long time had fairly strong feelings against
the move, and many continued to refer to the agency as the Florida Forest Service for several years
afterward.

Along with the merge into DACS, the DOF was reorganized from six big districts into eighteen small
districts with three or four counties in each district. Therefore inexperienced District Foresters led most of
the new districts. Many had been County Foresters only a short time before the promotion.

John Bethea was the Director (State Forester), a position that he took over when Hux Coulter retired shortly
after reorganization. Harold Mikell was the Assistant Director. Even though I never worked under Hux
Coulter, I was fortunate to get to know him on a personal basis. He was one of the pioneers of forestry in
Florida and did much to establish the high standards under which we operate today.

Also at this time, the southern part of the State was experiencing a severe drought, and wildfires were
increasing in size and number. Being new to the job and the State, I was sent south a few times to learn and
become oriented.

Many of the fires were in the Everglades and the adjoining area know as the Big Cypress, both very large
and mostly inhabited, except for the occasional hunt camp, some of which were quite elaborate. As I
observed the fires grow more numerous and increase in size to hundreds and thousands of acres, I began to
wonder about their management. Just prior to moving to Florida, I had experienced my first large western
wildfire operations. In late August and early September, I served as crew boss of a crew from Kentucky on
a fire in the Wenatchee National Forest near Wenatchee, Washington. Even though that was quite
exciting, Ill stick to what is relevant about what was happening in Florida. At Wenatchee, I got to
observe, from a firefighters viewpoint, how a large fire was managed. There were thousands of people,
many camps, air tankers, helicopters, trucks, etc., etc. From what I observed in Florida, there was a need
for such organized management.

I brought the subject up one day but was given the impression that Large Fire Organization, LFO as it was
called at the time, was considered mostly a training exercise, and there was no need for training at this
point. However, less than a week later, while I was in the Ft. Myers District, I was called and told that the
Assistant Chief was on his way and I was to assist him in setting up a fire camp and LFO at Copeland
Work Center in Collier County. We did set up the camp and organization and continued to use that process
for the rest of the season. I could recount similar experiences with getting air tankers and helicopters used
operationally for essentially the first time, but that does not suit the purpose of this brief paper. (Note: the
DOF owned a PBY air tanker, but it was rarely flown, and then mostly for demonstrations.)

There is one side note to my fire experiences during this time. Please remember that I was born and raised
in north Georgia and my only work experience had been in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. I dont
think I had ever been south of Orlando. The Big Cypress was absolutely fascinating to me. It was like
another world. As I have told others, I would not have been entirely surprised to observe giraffes and
zebras racing across the grass prairies as we traveled the backcountry to reach remote fires.

Meanwhile, back to my primary job, I continued to become fully occupied in a number of projects related
to being the Fire Control Research Coordinator. My first big project was to complete the Fire Control
Tactics manual that had a lot of work done on it before I came into the picture. This was to be a manual
that was primarily for the benefit of new Forest Rangers, and it was to present the best and most commonly
accepted tractor/plow tactics to use in initial attack by the first crew. Tactics were presented for a variety
of fuels under varying weather conditions. This manual was published as a stand-alone manual, but was
later incorporated as a chapter in the Fire Fighters Guide.
Drought in south Florida persisted, and 1973 was another very serious year for the Everglades and
the Big Cypress. Please remember that at this time the land of the Big Cypress was in many private
holdings, so the Division of Forestry had primary fire control responsibility.
After quite a number of weeks of continuous fire activity, it was decided that District Forester Kim
Blacker needed a few days to rest, so I, along with Ray Geiger, was sent to manage a very large fire in the
Big Cypress of Collier County. We set up fire headquarters at Monroe Station, a way post with one store
and a fire tower off of US 41 between Naples and Miami. I assumed the role of Fire Boss and Ray
handled all of the logistical needs. However, we worked very closely as a team to manage the whole
operation The fire was two four miles north of US 41 with only swamp buggy trails for access. National
Guard helicopters assisted us.

It was quite a large operation for our time, and we made good use of the helicopters by using them to haul
firefighters and equipment to the fire. We were not equipped with buckets so we could not use them to
actually drop water on fires. After several days, a firebreak was completed, and the fire was contained at
approximately 30,000 acres. This was quite an accomplishment for us, especially without the assistance of
rain.

Because of the remoteness of fires in that area and the length of time it took us to get heavy equipment to the
scene (sometimes up to eight hours), we began to look for other methods to improve the response. One
effort involved using helicopters to actually airlift crawler tractors from the road to the fire line. We
contacted the U.S. Army at Ft. Rucker Alabama and persuaded them to help us experiment with the airlift of
tractors. We welded some lift hooks onto the tractors so that cables could be attached. The Army flew a Sky
crane helicopter to the Oasis landing strip, not very far from Monroe Station, for a field test. The test was
successful, and we were actually able to lift a TD-9 crawler tractor and fly with it.

We prepared a number of our tractors for lifting and signed an agreement with the Army that would allow us
to call on them if the situation warranted. Then two things happened that prevented the experiment from
ever becoming operational. First, the next two or three years were very wet, and there were no serious
wildfires in that part of the state. Second, the federal government began to acquire the land in the Big
Cypress to be part of a water preserve under the Everglades National Park. With those two factors
combined, there never again came a need to fly tractors into a fire in Florida. This was the only part of the
state that was remote enough to warrant such extreme effort.

Shortly after this time, David Smith became the Administrative Forester for the agency, and Ed Sweeten
became the Chief of Fire Control.

Another project that occupied quite a bit of my time during the mid 70s was an attempt to find more
efficient means to combat muck fires. Muck fires were prevalent in the central part of the state, most notably
in Polk County. They would sometimes linger for months, and the smoke was a serious irritant to the skin of
firefighters and a serious danger to traffic on highways. Along with help from researchers at the US Forest
Service Fire Laboratory at Macon, Georgia, we experimented with a number of chemicals and types of
equipment in hopes of finding a solution.

I remember one experiment in which I used a residue from a citrus processing plant to treat muck soil and
make it fireproof. It was a very strong alkali, and somewhat hazardous to handle, but treated muck soil
would not burn. However, after observing treated plots for over a year, we feared that nothing would ever
grow there again, either! Another experiment, another experience, another opportunity to learn what would
not work.

While in this position, I was also responsible for two other programs, fire control training and fire weather
and behavior.

The primary training for Forest Rangers was a one-week course for experienced Rangers, those who had
been on the job for at least three years. We held this course two consecutive weeks (two different groups) at
Camp Blanding, near Stark. I was the dean of the school, and was sometimes assisted by John Webster. It
was during this time that Division Training Officer Jerry Gullo and I began to lobby for our own training
facility so that we could begin a much more intense training of new Rangers. Persistence paid off when it
was announced that the Environmental Education Center being built at Withlacoochee State Forest would
also be used as the training center for the Divisions own employees, particularly fire control training.

I had the opportunity to work with research scientist within the U.S. Forest Service on the development of
updates in fire danger index systems, particular the 1972 version. I was able to provide input as well as
initiate application to field operations within the DOF.

Also, at this time, there was emphasis on the need for smoke management from prescribed fires to protect air
quality. The forerunner of the Department of Environmental Protection began the process of developing
rules to regulate all open burning, and there was great concern within the forestry community about
restricting the ability to do prescribed burning. It became my job to work with (DEP) in developing those
rules and setting up the process so that they could be administered by the DOF.

In the late 70s I had an opportunity to experience another job assignment. I swapped jobs with Jim Whitson and
became a Regional Forester. In this job, I was the line supervisor over several district managers in the northeast
part of the state. This did not last long before State Forester John Bethea decided to do away with the position of
Regional Forester (there were three of us) and put us into other positions. I was put into a new position within
the administrative unit, and my title was Personnel Relations Coordinator. This involved a number of
administrative responsibilities, including handling grievances from employees. This was made even more
exciting, given the fact that state employees had just been given the right to organize into labor unions, and
there was a great increase in grievance cases.
During this time, Ed Sweeten died from a heart attack, and Mike Long, who had been the District Forester in Ft.
Myers, replaced him.

I continued in this position until 1982 when Assistant Chief of Fire Control Carey Peeples retired. I applied for,
and was promoted to, that position. I remained in this position until the fall of 1995.

During this period of time I had the opportunity to serve as Operations Chief on the Blue Team, an interagency
incident management team run by the U. S. Forest Service out of Region 8 office in Atlanta. I got to serve with
the great people on this team on quite a number of large wildfires throughout the Southeastern Region and as far
away as California.

While in the position of Assistant Chief, with full support from the Chief, I was able to initiate three
developments of which I am most proud. (1) Emphasis on wildfire prevention reached a new high and became
ingrained in our program. We began to give it more than lip service. (2) The development and initiation of the
Certified Burner program had a great impact on bringing attention to the importance of proper planning and
procedures in prescribed burning. The program soon spread to other states. (3) The development of the
Interagency Prescribed Fire training course set new standards among government agencies and many in the
private sector in the professionalism and use of prescribed fire.

Another outstanding memory during my tenure in the Fire Control Bureau was the opportunity to travel to
Indonesia with an interagency group representing the U.S. Forest Service and other state forestry agencies.
There were eight of us, and we spent three weeks teaching government workers the basics of forest fire control.
It was a valuable experience that Ill never forget.

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed my job in Fire Control (which was changed to the Forest Protection Bureau),
there came an opportunity in 1995 to apply for the position of Chief of Forest Management. Billy Helm retired
from that job after serving many years, and I was fortunate to be selected to replace him. I served in this job
until the end of 2002.
This was an exciting time that saw the tremendous growth in the number and size of our State Forest system. I
saw it as a great time to be involved in acquiring new land that we could be the first to begin management as
State Forest.

It was also a time which, through Legislative mandate (through the budget process), saw a great decrease in our
outstanding Urban Forestry program. Florida was a pioneer in this area, and it grew to be a great national
program. Approximately 26 Urban Forester positions were cut just prior to my taking over as Bureau Chief.

It was also a time which, through Legislative mandate (through the budget process), saw a great decrease in our
outstanding Urban Forestry program. Florida was a pioneer in this area, and it grew to be a great national
program. Approximately 26 Urban Forester positions were cut just prior to my taking over as Bureau Chief.

At the beginning of 2003, I was asked by Assistant Division Director Mike Long to take over as Bureau Chief of
the Forest Resource Planning and Support Services Bureau, and I continue to serve in that capacity at the present
time (September, 2004). I plan to retire from the Division of Forestry in the fall of 2005.

06-10-2003
Bronson Appoints Michael Long Director of Forestry

TALLAHASSEE
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson has appointed Michael C. Long to serve as
Director of the Division of Forestry. Long, who has served as Assistant Director since 1996, will assume
the post July 1, 2003. He succeeds L. Earl Peterson, who is retiring after 45 years of service to the state,
the last 11 years as Director of Forestry.
As Director, Long, 56 will oversee the protection and management of Florida's forest resources through
a stewardship ethic to assure these resources will be available for future generations.
Long is a native of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. He received a bachelor's degree in Resource
Management from New York State College of Environmental Science in 1972. He is a decorated veteran
of the Vietnam War, serving as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
After joined the Division of Forestry in 1972, Long served as Clay County Forester, Fort Myers District
Forester, Chief of the Forest Protection Bureau, and Assistant Director of Forestry. He is a 1993
graduate of the Certified Public Manager program, holds membership in many forestry and fire control
organizations, and has served in leadership roles on numerous state and national forestry committees.
Long's accomplishments and recognitions include: U.S. Department of Agriculture 1984 Award for
Outstanding Service in Fire Management; National Association of State Foresters 1994 Current Year
Achievement Award; 1995 Jefferson County Emergency Services Volunteer Firefighter of the Year
Award; 1995 Florida Fire Chief of the Year Award; 1996 Silver Smokey Bear Award; 1998 Florida
Commissioner of Agriculture's Sustained Superior Achievement Award; Jefferson County Monticello
Volunteer Fire Department 2000 Volunteer Firefighter of the Year Award; and National Association of
State Foresters 2000 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Long and his wife, Lynn, live in Monticello. The couple's son and his wife have two daughters.
The Division of Forestry -- the largest division within the Florida Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services with 1,230 employees -- has been the state's lead agency for managing state forests
for nearly 70 years. Currently the division manages 30 state forests encompassing nearly 1 million acres,
and cooperates with other state and local agencies for the management of an additional 500,000 acres.
Division personnel build and maintain woodland kiosks and signs, develop and maintain trails, improve
and create maps, and coordinate public events.
The Division of Forestry is mandated by the state of Florida to be capable of mitigating and suppressing
wildfires throughout the state. It administers programs including Fire wise Communities, Wildfire
Mitigation Teams, and Cooperative Fire Assistance. It also administers the fire danger rating system,
provides technical assistance with prescribed burning, and responds to emergencies such as floods,
hurricanes and other incidents.
Mike C. Long,
Director Division of Forestry
2003 - Present

A Photographic History of The Florida Division of Forestry

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