The Lumberman's Frontier: Three Centuries of Land Use, Society, and Change in America's ForestsWith The Lumberman's Frontier, Thomas Cox has reconstructed a groundbreaking history that stands apart from all previous studies of American forests. Forests were ubiquitous in early America, but it was only in selected areas that trees, rather than farming, attracted settlement. These areas constitute the lumberman's frontier, which appeared first in northern New England in the seventeenth century, followed by upstate New York, the Allegheny Plateau, the upper Great Lakes states, the Gulf South, and the Far West. The forest frontiers generated capital and building materials important in the nation's development, but they also left a legacy of environmental problems, class and urban-rural divisions, and economic frictions. The 1930s marked the end of the lumberman's frontier, but these consequences continue to shape attitudes and policies toward forests, most notably the questions "Whose forests are they?" and "How and by whom should forests be used?" Drawing upon recent work in social and economic history, as well as a wealth of historical data on forest industries and individuals, The Lumberman's Frontier neither glorifies economic development nor falls into the maw of gloom-and-doom. It puts individual actors at center stage, allowing the points of view of the workers and lumbermen to emerge. The Lumberman's Frontier will appeal to students and scholars of forestry, public policy, and environmental history, as well as to general readers interested in the history and settlement of the United States. |
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1st quote 2nd quote acres agricultural American Bangor boom California centers Central Oregonian Chippewa City Clearfield Clearfield County Coast County Defebaugh Douglas fir downriver early Economic farmers farms federal Ficken Forest Service Forestry Glens Falls growth Gulf South Hickman Hidy Hist Historical Society ibid John July Kilar Klamath Klamath Falls Labor Lake Lake County Examiner land located log drives loggers logging railroads Louisiana lumber Lumber Company Lumber Industry lumberman's frontier Lutcher Machias Maine Maine's markets Michigan million feet mills Minnesota Mississippi Forests Mississippi Harvest Nevins North northern operations Oregon owners Pacific Northwest Pennsylvania Penobscot percent Piney Woods Policy Portland Prineville production Public rafts Report River Saginaw sawmills settlement settlers Southern SPAP Susquehanna Boom Taylor Timb timber timberland town tracts trade trees University Press unpub Valley Washington West Western Weyerhaeuser William Williamsport Wisconsin workers York