Seventh American Forest Congress

The 7th American Forest Congress: Leading the Way to 21st Century Forestry

On February 20–24, 1996, some 1,500 forestry professionals, policymakers, and other stakeholders gathered in Washington, D.C. Their goal: To chart the course for the future of America’s forests at a time when increasingly diverse interests were challenging conventional approaches.

The event was the 7th American Forest Congress, co-chaired by John Gordon of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Rex McCullough of Weyerhaeuser and supported by a coordinating office at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies headed by Bill Bentley. Convening under the theme “Many Voices, A Common Vision,” the diverse group of participants spent the week working to chart a path forward for forestry in the United States. Ultimately, the Congress played a key role in shaping the more inclusive approach that characterizes U.S. forest management today.

^{1,400 people spent four days in this room, ten to a table, at the Seventh American Forest Congress, striving to achieve a common vision for the nation’s forests (from The Forest School News, Spring 1996).}