Bernhard Eduard Fernow ( ; January 7, 1851 – February 6, 1923) was the third chief of the USDA's Division of Forestry of the United States from 1886 to 1898, preceding Gifford Pinchot in that position, and laying much of the groundwork for the establishment of the United States Forest Service in 1905. Fernow's philosophy toward forest management may be traced to Heinrich Cotta's preface to ''Anweisung zum Waldbau'' (Instruction in Silviculture) or Linnaeus' ideas on the "economy of nature." Fernow has been called the "father of professional forestry in the United States."
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