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Archival Collections: Association of Consulting Foresters Records 1954 - 2001 (bulk 1971 - 1992)
The collection consists of ACF records largely concerning the organization and its operations. The collection is divided into six series, including files on financial and tax documents; office policies and procedures; advertising and promotion; staff and members; individual ACF chapters, focusing largely on the Alabama chapter; and correspondence and interaction with organizations such as the Practicing Foresters Institute of Trust (PFIT), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and other independent organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Society of American Foresters (SAF). Also included in these series are files on ACF committees, meetings, ethical and legislative concerns, and history of the ACF; a bound volume of Historical Perspective, the Early Years provides a brief history of the organization, its leaders, and its accomplishments. This collection contains a large number of records and correspondence pertaining to influential people who shaped ACF history, including John Bradley, Jr. (President of ACF 1974 - 1976; Chairman of Resource Management Services Inc., Chairman of Alabama Chapter ACF), Harry Murphy (ACF member, President of Resource Operations Inc., Executive Vice President of Resource Management Services Inc.), and L. Keville Larson (ACF President 1982 - 1984). The collection also contains reference to other significant people including Arthur Ennis; Colin Bagwell; Robert Fiske; Frank Bennett; John T. Clark; Harvey Striplin, Jr.; and William Banzhaf. Historical Note on the ACFIn the spring of 1948 Alex Setser, a consulting forester from Tennessee, began polling all of the consulting foresters in the United States, concerned with networking and sharing of ideas within the profession. He realized that an organization was needed to represent these consultants and allow them to acquaint themselves with their colleagues, protect the field by establishing uniform standards, disseminate new practices, and provide foresters, as well as their clients, with a means of locating consulting foresters of proven reputation. In December of 1948 an organizational meeting was held in Boston, and five foresters joined to create the Association of Consulting Foresters of America. These men who later became the association's founding members were Halsey Hicks, Robert Moore, Clinton Peltier, Ed Stuart, and J. Atwood Whitman. The ACF was originally conceived as a division of the Society of American Foresters, but SAF would not approve a Consulting Forestry division, which forced ACF to become a separate entity. The organization was founded on the principles of maintaining and enforcing ethical standards in forestry, increasing legislative activity, providing information, primarily through its Consultant monthly journal, and promoting the use of expertise in the management of forestry resources through continuing education offerings. The association later stated its purpose in its Constitution, Bylaws, and its Code of Ethics. The ACF requires that all of its members have a forestry degree from an approved college or university, at least five years of practical experience in forest management and administration, and at least one year's experience as a forestry consultant. There are currently six hundred and ten members in thirty-nine states and two Canadian provinces. The ACF is divided into twenty-two regional chapters and is headquartered just outside of Washington D.C. ProvenanceThe first installment of the collection was given to the Forest History Society in May of 1999; Harry Murphy, a member of the Association of Consulting Foresters, arranged the donation. Keville Larson donated a second round of materials in February of 2002. Ashley Autry, an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, arranged and described the first installment of the collection in May - June of 2001. Research Assistant Elizabeth Arnold processed the second installment and merged it with the first collection in July - September of 2002. Note on Arrangement and DescriptionThe Association of Consulting Foresters records had a loose organizational structure when donated, however, some changes were made to the collection in order to make it more accessible. Various files were reorganized and renamed, misplaced items were correctly filed, and duplicate copies were discarded. The first installment of the original collection contained twelve boxes, and eleven boxes remained after reorganization. The second installment was received in seven boxes, which were physically merged with the first collection; after weeding out duplicates and some restructuring, the collection consists of a total of 16 boxes. Staples were replaced, clips were removed, newspaper clippings were photocopied, and the folders were replaced with acid-free ones. Documents within files are arranged in reverse chronological order. Series Descriptions The records are arranged into six series: Series I: ACF Administration, 1954 - 2000. Contains information concerning the financing, promotion, policies, staff, members, and operations of the Association of Consulting Foresters.
Series II: ACF Committees, Projects, and Programs, 1969 1997. This series contains files on various ACF committees, projects, and programs. It also contains information on the ACF's relationships with other organizations and their efforts to promote education and provide forestry related courses.
Series III: Ethics, Competition and Legislation, 1955 - 2000. Includes information dealing with ACF ethical and legislative concerns, as well as various government and non-government sources of competition and conflict with the profession of consulting forestry.
Series IV: ACF Chapters, 1971 - 2001. This series contains information on individual ACF chapters, largely the Alabama chapter in particular. The series consists of notes, correspondence, agendas, minutes, memorandums, estate descriptions, chapter bylaws, chapter policy statements, and lists of consulting foresters. Also included are resolutions, statements to the Senate, contracts, timber sales lists, faxes, newsletters from ACF chapters, and applications for membership. Various articles can be found from numerous publications including Forest Farmer, Bottom Line, Ashland Progress Newspaper, Press and Standard, Pulpwood Highlights, Wall Street Journal, and the Journal of Forestry. Series V: ACF Conventions and Meetings, 1969 - 2001. This series contains files for various ACF national conventions and internal ACF meetings. Annual meetings during this time period were held in locations such as Panama City Beach and Flagstaff, AZ, among others. Internal ACF meeting information found in this series is comprised of annual Business meetings and meetings of the Executive Board. Included in the files are memorandums, agendas, attendee lists, notes, rosters, maps, brochures, correspondence, minutes, resolutions, and copies of speeches. Series VI: ACF General Files, 1955 - 1996. This is the largest series and contains files listed by date. Included in these general files are an assortment of important items from particular times periods including, but not limited to, correspondence, memorandums, notes, faxes, copies of articles, agendas, minutes, applications, financial statements, reports, brochures, copies of speeches, legislative reports, congressional testimonies, and so on. These files provide a basic overview of ACF activities for particular time periods. |
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http://www.foresthistory.org/Research/Faids/acf.html Last update: 5 October 2004. (c) Forest History Society, 2004. |