DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Now, you have to understand something about Texas in the 1880s. Prairie stretched on forever, flat and wide open, and trees were not exactly lining the streets of Temple.
That's the world W. Goodrich Jones stepped into when he came to Temple as a banker in 1888. A banker.
Not a forester, not a ranger, not a man with a government title. Just a banker who looked around at all that bare prairie and thought — something is missing here. So he did something about it.
Jones led planting drives right there in Temple, and in 1889 he saw to the establishment of a statewide Arbor Day. One man, one town, and suddenly an entire state had a day set aside for trees. That's how you start.
But Jones wasn't finished. Not even close. The Chief U.S.
Forester asked him to survey Texas forest resources — the whole state — and Jones took that charge seriously. He enlisted the aid of friends. He built something.
November 1, 1914. That's the date. Jones and about twenty associates walked into the Carnegie Library, which sat right there adjacent to the Temple public square, and they organized the Texas Forestry Association.
Twenty or so people in a library. You want to talk about humble beginnings — there it is. Now here's where it gets good.
The Association had one original aim: gain public support for a state Department of Forestry. Just one goal. Focused, deliberate, stubborn as a post oak in rocky ground.
And within a year, they had it. The Department was created by law in 1915. It was later retitled the Texas Forest Service.
One year, from a meeting in a library to a law on the books. Don't let anybody tell you a room full of determined people can't move fast. And then the long work began.
Under leaders including Jones himself, who served as TFA president from 1914 to 1921, the Association became the voice of forestry in Texas — urging expansion, protection, proper management, and wise use of all forests and related resources. Over time, the TFA aided in the restoration of eleven million, five hundred thousand acres of commercial forests. That's not a typo.
Eleven and a half million acres — described right there on the marker as the lifeblood of a large segment of the Texas economy. By the time this story was set in stone, the Texas Forestry Association counted over two thousand members: woodland owners, tree farmers, industrialists, professional foresters, and concerned citizens. W.
Goodrich Jones was born in 1860 and lived until 1950. He came to Temple as a banker. He left behind eleven and a half million acres of restored forest and one of Texas' oldest conservation organizations.
All because he looked out at a prairie town and felt the need for trees. Sometimes the most consequential thing a person can do is simply notice what's missing — and then spend a lifetime putting it back.
What the marker says
One of Texas' oldest conservation organiations. W. Goodrich Jones (1860-1950), who came to Temple as a banker in 1888, felt need for trees in this prairie town. He led planting drives in Temple, and in 1889 saw to the establishment of a statewide Arbor Day. Asked by the Chief U.S. Forester to survey Texas forest resources, Jones later enlisted aid of friends. On Nov. 1, 1914, he and about 20 associates met in the Carnegie Library, then adjacent to the Temple public square, and organized the Texas Forestry Association. This body's original aim, to gain public support for a state Department of Forestry, was accomplished within a year. The Department was created by law in 1915; it was later retitled "Texas Forest Service". The Texas Forestry Association has since aided in the restoration of 11,500,000 acres of commercial forests--lifeblood of a large segment of the Texas economy. Over 2,000 woodland owners, tree farmers, industrialists, professional foresters, and concerned citizens are TFA members. Under such leaders as Jones, who served as president in 1914-21, the TFA has been the voice of forestry in Texas, urging expansin, protection, proper management, and wise use of all forests and related resources. (1974) (1974)