For the Greatest Good: Early History of Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Book excerpt: Personal recollections. Worn and faded black-and-white photographs. Journal entries from the first expeditions. Frayed letters from early rangers. Field notes. Authors McClure and Mack assemble these fragments to create a portrait of Gifford Pinchot National Forest's history and provide a glimpse into its past through the eyes of the people who shaped it. Dozens of first-person accounts and photographs supplement the authors impressions throughout the pages. During the late 1930s, Forest Supervisor Kirk P. Cecil asked his rangers to interview local old timers and prepare written historical summaries of their districts. During the 1940s Cecil contacted and corresponded with many of the early forest rangers and guards, asking them to provide recollections of their experiences. Several excerpts from these communications have been included in this book and the authors have drawn liberally from a notebook of personnel data compiled by Cecil in the 1960s. Known by many names since its creation as a forest reserve over a century ago. Today Gifford Pinchot National Forest encompasses an area of 1,527,761 acres in south-central Washington State. Look back through the eyes of the native Americans, fur traders, explorers, and rangers to gain a deeper understanding of the land we now call Gifford Pinchot National Forest.