"That Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946) was one of the most influential advocates of environmental conservation is well known. As the first chief of the reconstituted Forest Service, and as President Theodore Roosevelt's closest adviser on conservation issues, he set the course of national forest policy for decades to come. As the exponent of utilitarian forestry - captured in his maxim "the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run" - he became a lodestar for forestry educators and practitioners.".

"But the private Gifford Pinchot has remained unknown to those acquainted with the public figure, or even with the reflective man who recounted his eventful career in his autobiography, Breaking New Ground.

In his diary we read of his daily interactions with conservation greats John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt, his impressions of fellow forester Bernhard Fernow, his work with botanist Charles Sargent and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, his dealings with Henry Wallace, Harold Ickes, Henry Gannett, and George Vanderbilt.".

"The diaries of Gifford Pinchot show real people making conservation happen despite seemingly endless obstacles. What they accomplished was extraordinary in a time when federal involvement in natural resources ran counter to prevailing political theory. Turning conservation into a public issue and creating the national forests - Pinchot's legacy - marked a huge shift in defining government's role in conserving natural resources for future use.".

"To create this reference work of lasting value, Harold K. Steen has extracted from Pinchot's voluminous personal diaries the entries that pertain to forestry and conservation."--BOOK JACKET.