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Cradle of Forestry Overlook. I believe I am looking west.
In 1888, George and Edith Vanderbilt of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville purchased the land you see here. During this time, the southern Appalachian Mountains were in the midst of a major logging boom.
At the time there were no land management or reforestation efforts in place and degradation of the land was starting to become apparent. The Vanderbilt’s saw a need to take action and asked Dr. Carl A. Schenck, a forestry educator from Germany, to help. Schenck founded America's first forestry school, The Biltmore Forest School, now the home of the Forest Service's Cradle of Forestry historical site. Schenck taught a scientific, hands-on approach to forest management that would keep logging profitable while also being sustainable.
When George Vanderbilt died in 1914, Edith sold 87,000 acres of the land to the U.S. Forest Service, fulfilling her husband's wishes to help create the Pisgah National Forest.
In 1888, George and Edith Vanderbilt of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville purchased the land you see here. During this time, the southern Appalachian Mountains were in the midst of a major logging boom.
At the time there were no land management or reforestation efforts in place and degradation of the land was starting to become apparent. The Vanderbilt’s saw a need to take action and asked Dr. Carl A. Schenck, a forestry educator from Germany, to help. Schenck founded America's first forestry school, The Biltmore Forest School, now the home of the Forest Service's Cradle of Forestry historical site. Schenck taught a scientific, hands-on approach to forest management that would keep logging profitable while also being sustainable.
When George Vanderbilt died in 1914, Edith sold 87,000 acres of the land to the U.S. Forest Service, fulfilling her husband's wishes to help create the Pisgah National Forest.