Elers Koch (–1954)

We are fortunate that Char Miller found and prepared this memoir to share with readers today.

As one of the first members of the U.S. Forest Service, Elers Koch's narrative reveals many of the challenges of a new government agency. By sharing his experiences with people, animals, terrain, weather, and fires, as well as other government agencies and programs, Koch memoir fills the scope of forest management.

If my husband had read this book as a young man, our lives would have been vastly different, as I foresee that he would have become a Forest Ranger.… (meer)

I love the serendipity of research. In reading about early logging in Idaho for a novel I'm writing, I realized that I must understand the early Forest Service and the men who patrolled the national forests and sold its trees to the lumber companies, and made darn sure the companies took the right ones and tidied up afterwards. I discovered Early Days in the Forest Service (reminiscences by retired forest rangers) and in Volume One I found Elers Koch. And then I found this memoir - what a gem! Born in 1880,he grew up in Bozeman and had adventures as a youth. His work in the early Forest Service has the lure of a mountain man novel. He knew his wilderness. And he wrote exceedingly well. Highly recommended for the lover of Idaho and Montana forest lands and mountains.

Author The Wolf's Sun
A Devil Singing Small… (meer)