High Sierra Topix

It took a little for the U.S. Forest Service to settle into its current role. In 1876, Congress created the office of Special Agent in the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assess the quality and conditions of forests in the United States. In 1881, the Department expanded the office into the Division of Forestry (renamed Bureau of Forestry in 1901). The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 authorized the President to designate public lands into what were then called forest reserves. Responsibility for these reserves fell under the U.S. Department of the Interior until the 1905 Transfer Act, when President Theodore Roosevelt transferred their care to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new U.S. Forest Service. Photo of President Theodore Roosevelt and the first Chief Forester, Gifford Pinchot.