The creation of the British Columbia Forest Branch in 1912 marked the start of over a century of service by the many women and men who served as stewards of British Columbia’s forests. It is a remarkable story. This book honours those decades of service and presents a small portion of the many events and personalities that mark the evolution of British Columbians’ relationship with their forest history. —from the Introduction

Historians Robert Griffin and Lorne Hammond tell the story of BC’s Forest Branch—renamed the Forest Service in 1947—over a century of stewardship of the province’s largest industry. The authors relate not just the big stories involving the major personalities, such as H.R. MacMillan, Ernest Manning, C.D. Orchard and Ray Williston, but also the front-line foresters, rangers and firefighters who dedicated their lives—and sometimes risked them—to protect BC’s forests.

This book is about a group of people who made important contributions to the growth of British Columbia as an economic force in North America.