History

Wisconsin's state forestry program celebrated its centennial in 2004 as marked by the hiring of the first State Forester in 1904. When E.M. Griffith started his new job on February 1, 1904, fires raged out of control on the cutover forest land of Wisconsin's Northwoods. Griffith's first projects were to establish an effective fire control program, build a nursery to produce tree seedlings and then begin the task of reforesting Wisconsin.

Over the past 100 years the state forestry program has built on the foundations of these early programs and established new programs to meet the needs of the resource and the public who depend on the social, ecological and economic products of the forest. We hope you enjoy reading the history of the various state forestry program areas listed on the left-hand side of this page.