Biltmore Forest School
Carl A. Schenck founded this school of "practical forestry" in 1896 on George W. Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate near Asheville, North Carolina.[3] With the permission of Vanderbilt, Schenck established the Biltmore Forest School in 1896 using abandoned farm buildings on the estate grounds near Asheville, North Carolina.[8] One of his former students, Cap Eldridge said, "He just lectured to us three or four hours a day, and the rest of the time we were strung out behind him, traveling full speed while he tended to his duties, which he explained as he went along."[9] This made Biltmore Forest Schools more like the last year of traditional German training and contrasts strongly with the newly formed American college programs which took place indoors.[5] This mutually beneficial relationship was short-lived; Pinchot helped establish the forestry school at Yale University with a $150,000 endowment from his father.I just want to emphasize that my forestal knowledge is, to say the least, equal to Filibert Roth, Henry Graves, or Mr. Fisher, the young sapling who now occupies the chair of forestry at Harvard.[5] Other faculty throughout the school's fifteen years included H. O. Allison (farming), Edgar D. Broadhurst (principals of law), Clement Samuel Brimley (zoology), George Lemon Clothier (prairie planting), Collier Cobb (geology and mineralogy), F. D. Couden (entomology), Dr. Bernhard E. Fernow (forestery), Dr. Andrew D. Hopkins (entomology), R. S. Kellogg (American forest statistics), Frederick Haynes Newell (irrigation), Dr. Harry C. Oberholzer (zoology), Malcolm Ross (farming), Franklin Sherman (zoology), Dr. St. George L. Sioussat (principals of economics), Dr. Hermann von Schrenk (fungus diseases), and Dr. Raphael Zon (activities of the National Forestry Service).[6][3] Students spent winters in Darmstadt, Germany, and Mimizan-les-Bains, France, and the rest of the year in forests in upstate New York; North Carolina; Cadillac, Michigan; and Coos Bay, Oregon.[2][6][13][10][5] In 1910, Schenck tried to take his students on a tour of the pine plantations on Biltmore Estate—because they were barred at the door, they jumped a fence in an isolated spot.Be it man or tree or institution, it is better to die too early than too late.”[3] In November 1908, Schenck hosted the Biltmore Forest Fair which was designed to "demonstrate the accomplishments and possibilities of scientific management and practical forestry techniques.[14] The three-day festival ran from November 26–29, exhibiting forestry practices taught at the school and providing lessons in logging operations, planting techniques, seed regeneration, and soil composition.[12] They toured Schenck's pine plantations on the Biltmore Estate, a had a barbecue at Pink Beds and held an event at Lake Logan clubhouse of the Champion Paper and Fibre Company.[12] They also placed a commemorative tablet called "The Plymouth Rock of Forestry" at the site of the former schoolhouse and planted three pine trees in memory of Schenck.[12] Today, the school continues to be celebrated as the Cradle of Forestry in America heritage site on Vanderbilt's former lands in Pisgah National Forest in Transylvania County, North Carolina.[17] Biltmore Hall, home of the College of Natural Resources at North Carolina State University, was named in honor of the school.
U.S. National Register of Historic PlacesU.S. Historic districtBrevard, North CarolinaforestryCarl A. SchenckGeorge W. Vanderbilt'sBiltmore EstateAsheville, North CarolinaPisgah National ForestTransylvania County, North CarolinaGeorge W. VanderbiltGermanyGifford PinchotThe Biltmore CompanyForest History SocietyNew York State College of ForestryCornell UniversityFrederick E. OlmstedsilviculturalTransylvania CountyHarvard UniversityDivision of ForestryYale UniversityClifton. D. HoweHomer D. HouseSir Dietrich BrandisClement Samuel BrimleyBernhard E. Fernow (forestery)Andrew D. HopkinsFrederick Haynes NewellHarry C. OberholzerRaphael ZonDarmstadtHaywood CountyDarmstadt, GermanyCadillac, MichiganWorld War Iforest plantationsustainable forestryWilmington, DelawareNew York CityClimaxlocomotivesawmillNorth Carolina State UniversityEmmy AwardSwift BerryJoseph S. IllickBernhard E. FernowC. D. HoweList of historic schools of forestryNational Register of Historic PlacesNational Park ServiceNorth CarolinaContributing propertyKeeper of the RegisterHistoric districtHistory of the National Register of Historic PlacesProperty typesAlamanceAlexanderAlleghanyBeaufortBertieBladenBrunswickBuncombeCabarrusCaldwellCamdenCarteretCaswellCatawbaChathamCherokeeChowanClevelandColumbusCravenCumberlandCurrituckDavidsonDuplinDurhamEdgecombeForsythFranklinGastonGrahamGranvilleGreeneGuilfordHalifaxHarnettHaywoodHendersonHertfordIredellJacksonJohnstonLenoirLincolnMadisonMartinMcDowellMecklenburgMitchellMontgomeryNew HanoverNorthamptonOnslowOrangePamlicoPasquotankPenderPerquimansPersonRandolphRichmondRobesonRockinghamRutherfordSampsonScotlandStanlyStokes