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Forestry in the Cradle: Biltmore:
The most significant of several attempts to promote the study and conservation of forests occurred in the South, thanks to the efforts of George Washington Vanderbilt, the grandson of railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt.
The young Vanderbilt acquired more than 100,000 acres of heavily forested, mountainous land in western North Carolina near Asheville, an area unequalled in the variety of its trees. In 1892, he began building the spectacular Biltmore mansion, but he was just as interested in creating surrounding woodlands of surpassing beauty.
In 1896, the first U.S. forestry school was established at the Biltmore Estate, the "Cradle of Forestry in America." Dr. Carl Schenck, a trained forester from Germany, directed the school. Although it closed after 15 years, the school established forestry as a profession and trained the first generation of Southern forestry leaders.
Prior to the opening of the Biltmore school, most of the forestry pioneers in the U.S. had been educated in Europe, particularly in Germany, which was then the world's leader in scientific forest management. |