Biographical Note
Charles R. Ross served as Extension Forester for Oregon State
University from 1946 until his retirement in 1970. He earned his B.S. in
forestry from the University of Georgia and M.S. from the University of
Washington. From 1936 until 1946, he worked in the southeastern United
States for the U.S. Forest Service, the Extension Services in South
Carolina and Alabama, and as a regional consultant for the American
Forestry Association.
Ross authored the popular OSU Extension publication,
Trees to Know in Oregon and numerous other
publications on 4-H forestry, tree planting, and forest management. He was
also a prolific writer on land use and population issues; his letters were
published in local and regional newspapers as well as the
The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and other national
publications.
A founding member of the Greenbelt Land Trust in Corvallis, Ross was
instrumental in the preservation of forests and farmland surrounding
Corvallis and helped with the purchase of land that would become Chip Ross
Park and the Fitton Green Natural Area. Ross died in Corvallis in
2006.
Content Description
The Charles R. Ross Papers consist primarily of his publications and
writing on forest resources, cultivation, harvesting, and timber
marketing; land conservation, preservation of open space, and population
growth; and the geography and culture of the southern Appalachians. These
include reports prepared during his work in the southeastern United States
from 1936 to 1946; publications written as an Extension Forester in
Alabama and Oregon; and editorials, letters, and columns written from the
1930s through 2001 on various forestry, social, environmental, and
political topics.
The reports document forest resources in Alabama, Georgia, North and
South Carolina, and Missouri; several of the reports include photographs.
Field notebooks which Ross used to record information on forest acreage on
private lands, people involved in harvesting of trees, and milling
operations are included.
The Extension publications include materials produced at Oregon State
University as well as by the Alabama Extension Service pertaining to farm
forestry.
The editorials, letters and columns include original typescripts,
photocopies of published items, and original newspaper clippings.
Clippings of
The Ranger's Corner columns that Ross wrote
as an Assistant U.S. Forest Service Ranger in Georgia in 1937 and of his
Let the Trees Grow columns for the
Oregon Farmer are part of the collection.