West Virginia University Division of Forestry - Cruiser Yearbook (Morgantown, WV)

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PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY LESTER MCCLUNG West Virginia State Forester Forestry in West Virginia is a profession. It is a profession, however, which is not yet fully recognized by the people of the state. Within recent years foresters have been challenged by other professional people claiming forestry is not a profession even for tax purposes. Let us readily admit that forestry does not have the stature of the LEARNED PROFESSIONS, i.e., theology, law and medicine, but let us also recognize that forestry has had professional status in this country for little more than a half century and even less time in our state. The best definition of a profession, in my opinion, is, A body of persons engaged in a calling. Forestry in West Virginia measures up to this definition in every respect. I do not believe a more dedicated group of men can be found than the foresters, publicly, privately or self-employed, who are working to earn the professional acceptance of their chosen calling. I believe this personal dedication is the result of the feeling that each is a part of the body and that the body is engaged in this calling. The end product is a fraternal dedication that will put forestry in its rightful place among the professions. A review of what has happened here in West Virginia is worthy of a few moments time. Twenty years ago a forestry school had been established and had released its first class of professionally trained foresters to fend for themselves and make a place in the sun for their services. To that end they have done well-in both forestry and other professions. At the same time the Conservation Commission had all of four trained foresters and they were engaged in fire protection and administrative matters, with fifty percent in the Charleston office. The U. S. Forest Service probably had no more than ten foresters assigned to the Monongahela. The Civilian Conservation Corps had camps operated by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, the U.S. Forest Service had camps administered for the National Forests and State Forestry, and the U. S. Park Service had camps administered for the develop- ment of State Parks. A few foresters were assigned to these camps, the last of which closed in early 1942. There was not a single known forester employed by industry or self-employed at that time. In all probability there were no more than thirty or thirty-five foresters in West Virginia in 1940. In the late forties and early fifties the profession made rapid strides. The forestry school was graduating bumper crops, mostly ex-GI's who had learned to stand up and talk for themselves. They naturally needed jobs, so the state received increased appropriations for protection and service programs and kept some of the graduates here at home. The National Forests started expansion programs which increased the technical staff. Other fed- eral agencies hired foresters because of their versatility. This period saw the introduction of consulting services to landowners for the first time. The most significant growth, however, was the increased employment of foresters by private industry. Lumber, coal and landholding companies were the principal employers. Some few foresters were beginning to see and like the opportunities of self-employment and yielded to the temptation. 22

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PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY fContinuedJ Progress continued but generally at a decelerated pace. Twenty years later we find a fully accredited For- estry Division at the University but one greatly in need of more adequate facilities and faculty. The graduates are sought after wherever foresters are wanted. Those who pioneered in the field of private industry and consult- ing forestry have well earned the respect of employers and clients on a professional basis. The state employs foresters in several departments and programs, but, in what some people call true bureaucratic fashion, requests are continually made for an expansion in organization. Federal agencies have increased the number of foresters in several instances and will still argue for more. And so it goes! But all the while foresters are making friends and performing services that are becoming to the profession. The number of foresters in the state has more than quadrupled in twenty years and the profession is still young in West Virginia. And now that forestry is about to become a confirmed and accepted profession, what is the responsibility of the individual forester to his profession? I am not thinking particularly of a code of ethics, the code adopted by the Society of American Foresters is acceptable. Sure we have an obligation to the forestry profession through its society and even the individual members. There is the usual loyalty and performance every employer has the right to expect, and also the responsibility of the forester to himself to keep informed on advancing professional matters, or in just plain words, keeping up. Technological advances in this modern age require this of all technicians. There is also a responsibility to the home, church and community, and still another responsibility which I firmly believe the forester has. This responsibility is to the forest resources with which most foresters will be concerned throughout their professional career. When we listen seriously to the forecasters of population increases and demands on all resources within the next generation, we can become frightened by what lies ahead. I could very easily become a pessimist if I did not know that some of this nation's best brains will be at the helm to steer a steady course. Even with the most capable professional foresters calling the shots, it will not be easy to meet the demand for forest products with an adequate supply. Our forest resources are perhaps the most controversial of our natural resources because of the varied inter- ests of many groups. The varied interest groups will present many problems to both the forest managers and people in policy making positions. Few, if any, decisions will be made that will receive unanimous acclaim. Some groups want vast areas set aside for wilderness and perpetuated as such, while other groups want forested watersheds left untouched for a water supply. Certain groups look at a forest only for the ,products that it can produce. And so it is that a forest means different things to different people. There is a challenge to every forester entering the profession to uphold the principles of multiple use man- agement in order that all the needs will be met. This applies to public as well as private holdings. The philos- ophy of good stewardship must be developed in the management practices of forest landowners if successive gen- erations are to inherit the potential to equal our present standards of living. Landowning foresters have a responsibility, perhaps greater than other owners, to demonstrate good stewardship and to encourage its principles to be used on all lands. Shouldn't foresters look upon their professional as a sort of privilege which carries de- finite moral, social and spiritual responsibilities, in the management of these God-given resources? The responsibilities are staggering as we face them today, but I believe the devotion of today's foresters, and the ones to follow, will meet them head on. Let us consider a thought from an old addage and propose that all forest landowners live each day as if he were going to die tomorrow, but to manage his forests as if he were going to live forever. 23