Northern Arizona’s logging legacy predates the arrival of European settlers. At least thirteen federally recognized tribes have lived throughout today’s northern Arizona and the Four Corners region for millennia.

The United States acquired the present-day American Southwest after the Mexican-American War, drawing multitudes of Euro-American settlers to the territory’s highland deserts. 

Congress approved the transcontinental railroad route along the 35th parallel in 1866 and facilitated the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Company’s incorporation on the project.

Motivated by business prospects in the timber industry and his knowledge of northern Arizona’s wealth of timberlands, Chicago businessman Edward E. Ayer (1841-1927), acquired the contract that would allow him to supply the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad charter with wooden railroad ties.

The AL&T Company remained Flagstaff’s largest employer for roughly 50 years. Railroads were the greatest source of profit for the lumber industry, which encouraged D.M. Riordan to seek a market for railroad ties beyond Flagstaff along other developing railroad lines.

New technologies in lumber production bolstered new lumber competitors, offering faster and more efficient ways to produce the most amount of lumber within the shortest amount of time, innovation allowed these new competitors to catch up with the AL&T Company.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, Americans grappled with the understanding that the nation’s timber resources were not limitless. Congress enacted the National Forest Preservation Act in 1891, allowing the president to designate certain forests for protection and management.

At the turn of the century, the study of forests or “Forestry” moved toward becoming a professional and scientific discipline adapted from Western European forest management practices.

In an attempt to confront the nation’s environmental concerns and create more job opportunities for young, single men, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933 as part of his New Deal.

The national demand for lumber spiked drastically amid the Second World War. The United States military used lumber for barracks, warehouses, munitions crates, aircraft hangars, trucks, planes, and much more. Northern Arizona in particular was the site of a critical munitions arsenal during World War II.

Tourism essentially became Flagstaff’s second largest “industry” alongside timber. Destinations like the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Glen Canyon, Oak Creek, Canyon de Chelly, and the National Forests surrounding Flagstaff brought droves of tourists to Northern Arizona to relish in the area’s natural beauty.

Lawrence Walkup, the president of Arizona State College (ASC [now NAU]) from 1957 until 1979, took on the project of founding the School of Forestry in the late 1950s.