Sequoia and Kings Canyon were the second and fourth national parks to be established by the federal government, in 1890 and 1940 respectively. The park’s superintendent began dealing with the intricacies of park resource management by the 1930s. Sequoia National Park, under the direction of park superintendent John R. White, was one of the first parks to face issues associated with the collective effects of development and visitation on the park ecosystems. The federal government established Kings Canyon National Park as a separate park from Sequoia, but for the bulk of its history, it has been administered jointly.

Originally the park services were split into three divisions: administration, maintenance, and rangers. Rangers were trained how to do just about everything; their responsibilities were very general. Then in the later half of the 20th century the park service began refining the ranger division by pulling off groups of people with increasingly specialized and professionalized skills into separate divisions. Interpretation and resource management were two such divisions spun off from the ranger division. It was not until 1976 that work functions drawn from throughout the park’s administration were consolidated to officially establish the Division of Natural Resources Management, including the Branch of Forestry and Vegetation Management.

In 1926, the major fire that broke out in Glacier National Park inspired the park service to create a forestry office, which was “the first formal organizational designation specifically for natural resource management” (Sellars 1997, 83). Given that Sequoia National Park was created to protect a species of trees, forestry has been an important aspect of park operations. The primary functions of the Forestry and Vegetation Management Branch are supervising tree crews in cutting down hazard trees, coordinating timber sales, managing forest health projects, such as the attempted eradication of dwarf mistletoe and white pine blister rust, supervising soil and moisture crews in the preservation of meadows and the management of grazing, coordinating crews in the construction and maintenance of fences, and supporting revegetation and restoration projects.

The records amassed here were collected by Thomas E. Warner. Tom Warner has worked as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park forester since the late 1970s. The forestry program has waxed and waned over the years, and with it, Tom Warner’s responsibilities have fluctuated. The Forestry Division has continued to grow since the first park forester was hired, but the principle responsibilities have remained mostly intact.

Major projects included in this collection are the restoration of Giant Forest, hazard tree mitigation, and forest health projects, such as dwarf mistletoe and white pine bister rust.