Talk:Bernhard Fernow

fact check

A couple of things in this article could use some verification. One was a claim that Fernow has been called "the father of American forestry" (which I deleted). According to the Forest History Society, this was a phrase used to describe Franklin B. Hough, not Fernow.

Another is the claim about Fernow leaving the Division of Forestry in frustration, which the text implies was due to his vain attempts to have forest lands transfered to his control in the USDA. A citation would be helpful.

Finally, references (e.g., Williams, 2007; FHS}seem to call him the chief (not capitalized), not director, of the Division. So I made this change. pradtke (talk) 02:18, 12 September 2009 (UTC)

undue weight

Here's why I added the "undue weight" tag to the article.

The section on the Forestry School at Cornell probably goes into more detail than is needed, and mainly only from the point of view of justifying the closing of the school forest at Axton, NY. Several writings have explained that there were influential neighbors (some sources say "wealthy New York bankers" - Fernow himself referred to "the bankers") who were very aggressive in pursuits to stop the school forest management activities. Supposedly, two of the main protesters had formerly hunted on the land and were displeased about the new management, which included clearcutting of several thousand acres of hardwoods with a plan to plant higher-value spruce. By most accounts, the management plan was sound but unpopular with "the Bankers", who pursued a sort of campaign against the school forest and Fernow through newspapers, the NY state Attorney General, a legislative committee, and finally the governor.

These details may fit better in the article on New York State College of Forestry at Cornell, which might also benefit from some additional references, e.g., and . It seems to be a very interesting controversy, with likely biases in the various accounts of it. One source that's cited in both pages (Bernhard Fernow and New York State College of Forestry at Cornell) but not available electronically is . I'll retrieve it from the library at work & see if I can add anything to clean up the references to it. Anyone interested in doing some research could probably dig up the original reports that Fernow made to the University and the Legislature to get some additional perspective. Anything that could provide insight into Odell's role and relationships in the matter would also be pertinent. pradtke (talk) 02:17, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Cornell School Forest at Axton

The paragraph on the Cornell School Forest seems to draw interest from one or more editors, including myself, who seem to be going back and forth with revisions over the nature of some of the more controversial aspects of the controversy that led to the school's closing. The paragraph has become too long and meanders off topic. The subject probably warrants that a separate page be created for the Cornell Forestry School Experimental Forest.