“Not one cent for scenery: The Story of How the National Forests Became the Nation’s Forests”

Presentation by James Lewis. 

In the 1890s, Congress gave the president the power to create national forests in the West. But when Americans began demanding the government also protect the Appalachian forests from destruction, Congress declared it would give “not one cent for scenery.” With the signing of the Weeks Act in 1911, the federal government started buying private lands to turn into national forests and begin restoring them, including in the White Mountains. The law transformed not only what we see on our national map, but also how we view our national government.

Join historian James G. Lewis, author of The Forest Service and The Greatest Good, for a talk about the establishment of the U.S. Forest Service and how the national forests became the nation’s forests.