Elers Koch was a U.S. Forest Service forest ranger. He often patrolled the Lolo National Forest in Montana while armed with a weapon. (U.S. Forest Service photo)

Imagine men mounted on horses, armed with rifles and sidearms, patrolling millions of acres of public land. These men were typical U.S. Forest Service rangers over a century ago. This is how the Forest Service first approached forest management.

Forest Service historian Dr. Lincoln Bramwell recently shared the history of the Forest Service to the agency’s Class of 2011 Presidential Management Fellows, a federal government leadership development program. Read more »

Seth Bullock’s plans for the Mount Roosevelt monument

Mount Roosevelt in South Dakota is maintained by the Black Hills National Forest as a recreational trail and picnic area where the  5,690-foot summit is dominated by the Friendship Tower— a stone memorial that rises about 25 feet above the surrounding meadow.

Friendship Tower was built by Seth Bullock in 1919 in honor of his friend President Theodore Roosevelt.  Bullock, a former sheriff of Deadwood, S.D.,  wanted to create a memorial of his friend’s life and a place where people could view wide open spaces that both Bullock and Roosevelt had become so fond of during their lives. He had met Roosevelt, then a deputy sheriff from Medora, N.D., in 1884. The two quickly became lifelong friends, Roosevelt later saying of Bullock, “Seth Bullock is a true Westerner, the finest type of frontiersman.” Read more »