Monday answer
Gary Smyth
Jim gets the gold star today.
The loss of timber in historically occupied areas became a cause for concern for a researcher FRANKLIN B. HOUGH.
In the Mediterranean notably around Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Greece once plentiful forests were almost totally lost. The reasons were many and varied with the occupier of the land over the ages:
the construction of dozens of fleets of wooden ships
wooden machinery
heating and cooking with wood
ceramic and smelting industry fuel wood
shingles, furniture, other transportation wood
with population growth houses covered the hills where trees once grew
intensive farming for increasing populations occurred on once wooded landscapes
All of these were considered by an American doctor, census analyst, and researcher Franklin B.Hough (pronounced Huff). Starting in 1855 until he completed a report in 1877, "On the Duty of Governments in the Preservation of Forests" covering not only the historical losses that wiped out the forests in the Mid-East but the expectations of the need for timber in America.
He was appointed as the first U.S. government Forester.
His work as head if the Division of Forestry in the Department of Agriculture led to the eventual formation of the National Forest Service.