In the past, the role of Army foresters was to manage and develop forest resources for the commercial production of forest products. Both this role and the management of the Army's forestry program have changed in response to mission needs, land management philosophies, and environmental stewardship requirements.

During World War I, the U.S. forces in Europe required vast quantities of wood products, such as lumber, railroad ties, poles, piling, bridge timbers, cordwood, and stakes for barbed wire. American foresters were sent to Europe to assist in local wood procurement operations. While forestry operations were proceeding in Europe, the first U.S. Army installation forestry program was implemented in 1918 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of Defense formed Military National Forests cooperatively, planning that these areas could be used jointly for Army training and timber production. Because of jurisdictional disputes, the Secretary of Agriculture requested release from the agreement and suggested that the Army independently conduct forestry operations on Army lands by employing civilian foresters. Some installations attempted to follow this advice, but for the most part Army forestry programs were in a state of inactivity until World War II.

The advent of World War II meant that, as in World War I, forest products would be needed for war material. Large supplies of U.S. timber were assembled for shipment to Europe. However, the Allied Forces were able to obtain the necessary timber in Europe, and the U.S. supplies were not needed. Following the war, the U.S. timber products generated as part of the war effort were sold as surplus property. The sale of these surplus products showed that significant supplies of timber existed on U.S. military lands.

In 1947, the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, requested that the USFS conduct a study of installation resources and make recommendations to place the forests under sound management plans. These first forest management plans provided for personnel, improvements, equipment, and a harvesting schedule.

In 1956, legislation was passed that established a reimbursable fund for the DoD's forestry program (Sale of Certain Interests in Land; Logs. 10 USC 2665). This established the program that is known today as the Army conservation reimbursable forestry program. Congress provided authority for the military departments to retain the receipts from sales of forest products; these receipts would otherwise have been deposited as miscellaneous receipts in the U.S. Treasury. The law stated that "appropriations of the DoD available for operation and maintenance may be reimbursed during the current fiscal year ... for all expenses of production of lumber or timber products ... from amounts received as proceeds from the sale" of timber.

Following the passage of the law, the forestry program expanded and management activities increased. Over the next 7 years, the number of woodland acres increased from 1.1 million to 1.5 million, and the gross income derived from these lands increased from $10.5 million to $26.7 million. In 1967, Army installations planted a total of 9,742 acres of trees, completed 20,672 acres of stand improvement, built 1,108 miles of fire lanes and access roads, maintained 6,753 miles of road, harvested trees from 129,000 acres, and conducted controlled burns on 197,000 acres. In addition, 89 million board feet and 205,000 cords of wood were sold from Army lands.

Since the 1961 authorization to use timber sale proceeds to reimburse program expenses, the Army-wide forestry program has only once required appropriated funds. That occurred in 1982 with the creation of the state entitlement program. This program was developed in response to complaints by state and local officials that Army installations had removed large blocks of land from the local tax base. To compensate for the tax revenue loss, the state entitlement program required installations to distribute 25 percent of net proceeds from timber sales to the host states, which in turn distributed the money to the host counties. The revenues distributed to the states are intended to be used for roads and schools. The state share of the entitlement rose to 40 percent in 1984.

Unlike the initial focus on soil stabilization, erosion control, and coordinating the production of commercial forestry products, the modern Army forester sees Army lands as an integral part of Army training that also provide biological diversity, wildlife habitat, air and water quality, soil conservation, watershed protection, and recreational opportunities. While all installations with forests have forestry responsibilities, not all installations have reimbursable forestry programs.