Inventory of the International Society of Tropical Foresters Records, 1926 - 1994

Descriptive Summary

Abstract:	The International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) is an association of professional tropical foresters established in 1950 to promote the practice and standards of tropical forestry throughout the world.
	The collection includes correspondence, membership records, and other materials documenting the activities of the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF). Correspondence concerning membership and ISTF publications comprises the majority of the collection, though records containing information on meetings, honorary vice presidents, and general business matters are also included. ISTF directors Tom Gill and Charles C. Larson are the primary correspondents from the 1950s through the 1970s. Major correspondents represented in records from the 1980s and 1990s include presidents Warren Doolittle and David B. Thorud as well as volunteer consultants Richard Bossi, Murlyn Dickerman, Gordon Fox, John Muench, Robert Potter, and Clifford Schopmeyer. Photographs of Tom Gill and of the Mexican Institute for Renewable Natural Resources Yucatan Project were removed to the Forest History Society Photograph Collection.
Title:	International Society of Tropical Foresters Records, 1926 - 1994,1951 - 1994
Creator:	International Society of Tropical Foresters
Repository:	Forest History Society Library and Archives
Call Number:	3933
Language of Material:	Material in English
Extent:	15.0 linear feet (10 record cartons)

Historical Note

The International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) is an association of professional tropical foresters established in 1950 to promote the practice and standards of tropical forestry throughout the world. Tom Gill, Bob Hess, Hugh Curran, and H. H. Chapman were among the score of founding members. For the first decade of its existence, ISTF expenses were borne by the Charles Lathrop Pack Forestry Foundation, a tax-exempt, non-profit organization. Tom Gill, director of the Society since its inception, arranged for ISTF to be incorporated in the District of Columbia in 1961, and he continued to serve as the Society's autonomous leader until his death in 1972.

Under Gill's direction, the Society's membership and reputation had steadily grown, but his death served to substantially weaken the effectiveness of the Society as a futile search for a new director was begun. Dr. Charles C. Larson, Dean of the School of Environmental and Resource Management at the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York, served as interim director of the Society until Mr. R. Catinot, Director General of the Centre Techniqual Forestier Tropicaux in France, agreed in 1974 to assume full responsibility for the future of the Society. Unforeseen circumstances, however, prevented Catinot from assuming the directorship, and Larson continued in his unsolicited role as interim director until 1978 when the Society of American Foresters agreed to help support and reactivate ISTF.

ISTF headquarters was established in Bethesda, Maryland, where the non-profit organization was reorganized. Presently, ISTF has three regional directors (from Africa, Asia, and Latin America), four directors-at-large, and numerous honorary vice presidents in countries around the world. Financial support comes from membership dues, contributions, and grants. The Tinker Foundation of New York City and the Foundation for Professional Forestry are two foundations that have offered grants to fund some ISTF operating costs.

Collection Overview

The collection includes correspondence, membership records, and other materials documenting the activities of the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF). Correspondence concerning membership and ISTF publications comprises the majority of the collection, though records containing information on meetings, honorary vice presidents, and general business matters are also included. ISTF directors Tom Gill and Charles C. Larson are the primary correspondents from the 1950s through the 1970s. Major correspondents represented in records from the 1980s and 1990s include presidents Warren Doolittle and David B. Thorud as well as volunteer consultants Richard Bossi, Murlyn Dickerman, Gordon Fox, John Muench, Robert Potter, and Clifford Schopmeyer. Photographs of Tom Gill and of the Mexican Institute for Renewable Natural Resources Yucatan Project were removed to the Forest History Society Photograph Collection.

Collection Arrangement

The records in this collection are divided into six series: General Business Materials, Honorary Vice Presidents, Meetings, Membership, Publications, and Miscellaneous. Records within file folders are arranged in reverse chronological order, with the exception of those in the Membership series, which have both alphabetical and chronological arrangement schemes. Membership records dating from the early period of ISTF's organization have an alphabetical arrangement due to the fact that ISTF Director Tom Gill (and later Charles Larson) answered all membership correspondence personally, filing records alphabetically by the correspondents' last names. Membership records dating from the years after reactivation have a chronological arrangement since a number of ISTF officers and volunteer consultants answered membership inquiries, filing records according to a chronological sequence.

1. General Business Materials, 1972-1992

2. Honorary Vice Presidents, 1980-1985

3. Meetings, 1951-1990

4. Membership, 1951-1994

5. Publications, 1926-1989

6. Miscellaneous, 1936-1984

Subject Headings

• Bossi, Richard
• Doolittle, Warren
• Gill, Tom, 1891-1972
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Committee on Forest Development in the Tropics
• Forests and forestry -- Societies, etc.
• Forests and forestry -- Tropics
• Fox, Gordon
• International Society for Tropical Ecology
• International Society of Tropical Foresters
• Larson, Charles C.
• Muench, John, 1930-
• Dickerman, M. B. (Murlyn Bennet), 1912-
• Potter, Robert
• Schopmeyer, C. S. (Clifford Scharff), 1911-
• Thorud, David B.

Related Material

Thomas Harvey Gill Papers, Library and Archives, Forest History Society, Durham, NC, USA.

Detailed Description of the Collection

Reverse Chronological

   Folder 1   Folder 2   Folder 3   Folder 4   Folder 5   Folder 6   Folder 7   Folder 8   Folder 9   Folder 10   Folder 11   Folder 12   Folder 13   Folder 14   Folder 15   Folder 16   Folder 17   Folder 18   Folder 19   Folder 20   Folder 21   Folder 22   Folder 23   Folder 24   Folder 25   Folder 26   Folder 27   Folder 28   Folder 29   Folder 30   Folder 31   Folder 32   Folder 33   Folder 34   Folder 35   Folder 36   Folder 37   Folder 38   Folder 39   Folder 40   Folder 41   Folder 42   Folder 43   Folder 44   Folder 45   Folder 46   Folder 47   Folder 48   Folder 49   Folder 50   Folder 51   Folder 52   Folder 53   Folder 54   Folder 55   Folder 56   Folder 57   Folder 58   Folder 59   Folder 60   Folder 61   Folder 62   Folder 63   Folder 64   Folder 65   Folder 66   Folder 67   Folder 68   Folder 69   Folder 70   Folder 71   Folder 72   Folder 73   Folder 74   Folder 75   Folder 76   Folder 77   Folder 78   Folder 79    Folder 80   Folder 81   Folder 82   Folder 83   Folder 84   Folder 85   Folder 86    Folder 87   Folder 88   Folder 89   Folder 90    Folder 91   Folder 92   Folder 93   Folder 94   Folder 95   Folder 96   Folder 97   Folder 98   Folder 99   Folder 100   Folder 101   Folder 102   Folder 103   Folder 104   Folder 105   Folder 106   Folder 107   Folder 108   Folder 109   Folder 110   Folder 111   Folder 112   Folder 113   Folder 114   Folder 115   Folder 116   Folder 117   Folder 118   Folder 119   Folder 120   Folder 121   Folder 122   Folder 123   Folder 124   Folder 125   Folder 126   Folder 127   Folder 128   Folder 129   Folder 130   Folder 131   Folder 132   Folder 133   Folder 134   Folder 135   Folder 136   Folder 137   Folder 138   Folder 139   Folder 140   Folder 141   Folder 142   Folder 143   Folder 144   Folder 145   Folder 146   Folder 147   Folder 148   Folder 149   Folder 150   Folder 151   Folder 152   Folder 153   Folder 154   Folder 155   Folder 156   Folder 157   Folder 158   Folder 159   Folder 160   Folder 161   Folder 162   Folder 163   Folder 164   Folder 165   Folder 166   Folder 167   Folder 168   Folder 169   Folder 170   Folder 171   Folder 172   Folder 173   Folder 174   Folder 175   Folder 176   Folder 177   Folder 178   Folder 179   Folder 180   Folder 181   Folder 182   Folder 183   Folder 184   Folder 185   Folder 186   Folder 187   Folder 188   Folder 189   Folder 190   Folder 191   Folder 192   Folder 193   Folder 194   Folder 195   Folder 196   Folder 197   Folder 198   Folder 199   Folder 200   Folder 201   Folder 202   Folder 203   Folder 204   Folder 205   Folder 206   Folder 207   Folder 208   Folder 209   Folder 210   Folder 211   Folder 212   Folder 213   Folder 214   Folder 215   Folder 216   Folder 217   Folder 218   Folder 219   Folder 220   Folder 221   Folder 222   Folder 223   Folder 224   Folder 225   Folder 226   Folder 227   Folder 228   Folder 229   Folder 230    Folder 231   Folder 232   Folder 233   Folder 234   Folder 235   Folder 236   Folder 237   Folder 238   Folder 239   Folder 240   Folder 241   Folder 242   Folder 243    Folder 244   Folder 245   Folder 246   Folder 247   Folder 248   Folder 249   Folder 250   Folder 251   Folder 252   Folder 253   Folder 254   Folder 255

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Copyright Notice

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The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], International Society of Tropical Foresters, Library and Archives, Forest History Society, Durham, NC, USA.

Acquisitions Information

Received from the International Society of Tropical Foresters in June 1990, Spring 1995, June 1996, and June 1997.

Processing Information

Processed by Linda Spencer, June 1990, and Michele Justice, July 1997-July 1997

Encoded by Amanda Ross, September 2008

Funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission supported the encoding of this finding aid. Support for digitization and outreach provided by the Alvin J. Huss Endowment.