The Best Gifford Pinchot Quotes

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Mountain Journey
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What Are Your Favorite Gifford Pinchot Quotes?

Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865 – October 4, 1946) was an early American forester, conservationist, and politician known for “reforming the management and development of forests in the United States and for advocating the conservation of the nation’s reserves by planned use and renewal” (Wikipedia.org).

Gifford Pinchot | By <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Pirie_MacDonald" class="extiw" title="w:en:Pirie MacDonald">Pirie MacDonald</a> - Library of Congress online collection. This JPEG is at the resolution of their original scan, but cropped. Item number <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c03915">3c03915</a>., Public Domain, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2843195">Link</a>
Gifford Pinchot | By Pirie MacDonald – Library of Congress online collection. This JPEG is at the resolution of their original scan, but cropped. Item number 3c03915., Public Domain, Link

After learning about forestry in France, Pinchot returned home to apply his knowledge in the US. Eventually Pinchot, along with his friend Theodore Roosevelt, formed and founded the US Forest Service. Pinchot served as the first Chief of the US Forest Service and 4th chief of the Division of Forestry.

Gifford Pinchot has been called “The Father of American Forestry.” During his control, “national forests increased from 32 to 149, totalling 193 million acres by 1910.” He also founded the Yale School of Forestry and the Society of American Foresters. Pinchot later served as the governor of Pennsylvania.

Today, Pinchot’s legacy lives on in many ways. Both Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Pennsylvania’s Gifford Pinchot State Park bear his name. The Pinchot Sycamore, the largest tree in Connecticut, is also named after him. His legacy of conservation will forever influence the use of public lands.

Below you’ll find a selection of the best Gifford Pinchot quotes:

  • The earth and its resources belong of right to its people.
  • The purpose of conservation: The greatest good to the greatest number of people for the longest time.
  • The vast possibilities of our great future will become realities only if we make ourselves responsible for that future.
  • Conservation means the wise use of the earth and its resources for the lasting good of men.
  • Conservation is the application of common sense to the common problems for the common good.
  • Unless we practice conservation, those who come after us will have to pay the price of misery, degradation, and failure for the progress and prosperity of our day.
  • Innovations never happen as planned.
  • I have been governor every now and then, but I am a forester all the time.
  • A vision is not a vision unless it says yes to some ideas and no to others, inspires people and is a reason to get out of bed in the morning and come to work.

Which of these Gifford Pinchot quotes is your favorite? Did we miss any quotes that we should add to the list? Let us know.

Learn more about Gifford Pinchot on Wikipedia.org and DOI.gov, Wilderness.net, and DNR.Maryland.gov.

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