Charles W. Garfield

State Forest advocate Charles William Garfield (1848-1934) spent his life studying trees and forests. His father taught him that trees were important because they were “one of God’s most attractive creations.” As a teenager, he was president of the Grand Rapids Scientific Club, which merged with the Grand Rapids Lyceum of Natural History to later become the Grand Rapids Public Museum. After his 1870 graduation from Michigan Agricultural College, he became a horticulturist before returning to the college as a faculty member. He was a member of the state’s Board of Agriculture, Independent Forestry Commission and Pomological Society. Elected secretary of the Michigan Horticultural Society in 1876, he served until 1888. He was elected as the second president of the Michigan Forestry Association in 1909 and served until 1923. In 1881 forestry pioneer Charles W. Garfield of Grand Rapids served in the Michigan House of Representatives. A bill he introduced required that trees be planted along public roads to combat the widespread clearing of forests. It did not pass, but it established his reputation as a reforestation advocate. He was president of the Michigan Forestry Commission throughout its existence (1899-1909). He led its efforts to encourage tree planting, particularly on the edges of farms and on cleared timber industry land. He advocated for less wasteful timbering methods. In 1903 the state legislature passed the Forest Reserve Act, which directed the Forestry Commission to create a state forest reserve of 34,000 acres in Roscommon and Crawford Counties. This was the beginning of Michigan’s state forest system, which grew to millions of acres.