Important Forestry Figures
In this section, the Calvert County Forestry Board presents news stories on specific persons, places, or events related to forestry. The Board maintains an archive of Features located at the bottom of this page.
Early Forest Conservationists of Calvert County
This feature is dedicated to early foresters and forest conservationists in Calvert County. Some of these individuals had influence in local conservation issues while others had influence nationally. To one degree or another they all influenced the current state of forestry in Calvert County.
Bennett O. Hughes
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Mr. Hughes began his career with the Forest Service in 1923. His early experience included assignments in the Eldorado, Shasta, and Lassen National Forests and timber management in the California and Southern Regions. From 1940 to 1943 he was supervisor of the Mississippi National Forests. Mr. Hughes then served as the Chief of the Division of Timber Management in the California Region of the Forest Service. In 1959 he transferred to the State Department and served as the Forest Advisor for the Agency for International Development. He holds degrees from Cornell University and the University of California at Berkeley. He is a featured author in the 1949 TREES, Yearbook of Agriculture. The article he co-wrote with Duncan Dunning is "Pine Forests of California."
In 1952 Mr. Hughes and Mr. Howard Marshall purchased a 202 acre tree farm in Prince Frederick, Maryland. He and Mr. Marshall managed the tree farm as a model for public and private land management. In 1986 he gave this land to Calvert County to be used as a demonstration forest. Many school and adult educational programs have been conducted at the Tree Farm. Today, the Bennett O. Hughes Memorial Tree Farm is still serving as a model for sustainable forestry. Mr. Hughes resided in Cape Leonard, Maryland. |
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Flippo Gravatt
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George Flippo Gravatt was a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and a forest pathologist with the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Agricultural Engineering. He was the leader of the program for the development and distribution of blight-resistant chestnuts and has studied other introduced diseases. He had long recognized the danger to American forests from introduced epidemic diseases and consistently advocated the necessity for stronger protective measures to exclude them from the United States. He is a featured author in the 1949 TREES, Yearbook of Agriculture. The article he co-wrote with D.E. Parker is "Introduced Tree Diseases and Insects."
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Mr. Gravatt founded the environmentally friendly community of Scientists Cliffs in Port Republic, Maryland. Today his influence lives on within the community. Scientists Cliffs has an active forest management plan with the Maryland Forest Service and is the recipient of several urban forestry awards from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Many of the community residents are active in the American Chestnut Land Trust.
Leonard Barrett
Leonard Barrett was Chief of the Forest Service Division of Forest Management Research. Prior to that position he served as Director of the Central States Forest Experiment Station in Columbus, Ohio. He was also the Chief of the Division of Forest Management Research in the Southeastern Forest Experiement Station, North Carolina. Mr. Barrett also served as a fire lookout, surveyor and timber estimator on various national forests in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. He is a featured author in the 1949 TREES, Yearbook of Agriculture. The article he authored is "Forest Renewal." Mr. Barrett was a member (Chairman) of the Calvert County Forestry Board and resided in Port Republic, Maryland. He also owned and managed a tree farm in Welcome, Maryland.
Dean Cochran
Dean Cochran joined the U.S.F.S. in 1920 and had numerous assignments in the Rocky Mountain area. He then served as Assistant Regional Forester in Denver, Colorado. After that assignment Mr. Cochran was the Chief, U.S.F.S Division of Personnel Management in Washington, DC. He then retired as Regional Forester for the U.S.F.S. North Central Region where he was in charge of the administration of fourteen National Forests in the Lake and Central States. Mr. Cochran was a graduate of Illinois College and Colorado State College. He is a featured author in the 1949 TREES, Yearbook of Agriculture. The article he authored is "National Forest Personnel." Mr. Cochran was a member of the Calvert Forestry Board and resided in Port Republic, Maryland. He was also a member of the Society of American Foresters.
Phillip Mohler
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Mr. Phil Mohler started with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in 1968 in an office located in Old Town Hall, Prince Frederick. Prior to 1968 Calvert County was serviced by only District Foresters. This makes Mr. Mohler the first forester of Calvert County! Early in his career he focused on providing woodland assistance such as management plans and timber marking. Extinguishing forest fires was also part of the job and several times he had to put them out by himself.
Mr. Mohler laid the foundation for forest landowner assistance in Calvert County which is carried on by Mr. Brian Stupak, current Maryland Forest Service Forester for Calvert County. In Phil's thirty-six year career with the State of Maryland he served as a forester, extension specialist, personnel manager, natural resource manager and a wetlands manager. Mr. Mohler was a member of the Calvert Forestry Board and currently resides in Prince Frederick, Maryland. He is also a member of the Society of American Foresters. |
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Romeo Mansueti
Mr. Mansueti worked as a biologist at the Maryland Department of Research and Education, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. He was an advocate for preserving the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp and was influential in its establishment as a Calvert County Park.
1924 Forest Wardens
Name and Area of Responsibility
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Armiger, G. E., Lower Marlboro
Gibson, Arthur, P., Huntingtown Gibson, Lloyd, B., Huntingtown Jones, James S., Dunkirk Owings, Claude I., Owings Tydings, Lloyd, A. St. Leonard Ward, J. Horace, Paris Williams, John S., Mutual |
These individuals form the earliest record of forest landowner assistance in Calvert County. Their primary duty was woodland fire fighting.
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Feature References
Dunkle, Elaine, C., (January 3, 2009), Personal Interview, Port Republic, MD
Mansueti, R., Gravatt, G., (1956), The Battle Creek Cypress Swamp of Calvert County, Reprinted from Maryland Conservationist
Mohler, P., (1983), A Brief History of the Bennett O. Hughes Tree Farm Prince Frederick, MD, Thirty Years of Forest Management, Prince Frederick, MD
Mohler, P., (February 17, 2009), Personal Interview, Prince Frederick, MD
Report of the State Department of Forestry, (1925), Report for Fiscal Years 1924 and 1925, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland
Scott, Walter E.(ed.), (Fall, 1956), Cochran, H. Dean-Forester, Wisconsin Academy Review, p. 178
Scientists Cliffs, et. al., (1996), A Dream Realized, Scientists' Cliffs 1937 - 1987.
United States Department of Agriculture, Trees, Yearbook of Agriculture (1949), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.
Mansueti, R., Gravatt, G., (1956), The Battle Creek Cypress Swamp of Calvert County, Reprinted from Maryland Conservationist
Mohler, P., (1983), A Brief History of the Bennett O. Hughes Tree Farm Prince Frederick, MD, Thirty Years of Forest Management, Prince Frederick, MD
Mohler, P., (February 17, 2009), Personal Interview, Prince Frederick, MD
Report of the State Department of Forestry, (1925), Report for Fiscal Years 1924 and 1925, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland
Scott, Walter E.(ed.), (Fall, 1956), Cochran, H. Dean-Forester, Wisconsin Academy Review, p. 178
Scientists Cliffs, et. al., (1996), A Dream Realized, Scientists' Cliffs 1937 - 1987.
United States Department of Agriculture, Trees, Yearbook of Agriculture (1949), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.
Archive of Board Features
Early Forest Conservationists of Calvert County (Current Feature) HERE
The Scrivener Family Farm: A Maryland Century Farm Prince Frederick, Maryland (November, 2008 - June, 2009) HERE