Franklin B . Hough Franklin B . Hough ( July 20 , 1822 – June 11 , 1885 ) was a scientist , historian and the first chief of the United States Division of Forestry , the predecessor of the United States Forest Service . He was among the first to call attention to the depletion of forests in the U . S . and is sometimes called the " father of American forestry " . Biography . Franklin Benjamin Hough ( pronounced " huff " ) was born in Martinsburg , New York on July 20 , 1822 to Horatio Gates Hough and Martha Pitcher Hough . Horatio , a physician from Meriden , Connecticut , was the first medical doctor to settle in Lewis County , in the west of the Adirondack Mountains . Horatio Hough died in 1830 when Benjamin was eight years old , at which point he began to go by his middle name , Franklin . As a young man , Franklin showed an interest in mineralogy and long hikes . He graduated with a degree from Union College in Schenectady in 1843 , and in 1846 he was married to Maria Eggleston of Champion , New York , and a daughter was born , Lola . He also published the first of his major scientific writings , " A Catalogue of Indigenous , Naturalized , and Filicord Plants of Lewis Counties , New York " . In 1848 , he received an M . D . from Western Reserve College . The same year , Maria died . Medical career . Hough set up a medical practice in Somerville in St . Lawrence County , New York . He devoted his spare time to natural history , and it was during this period that he discovered a mineral that would bear his name , houghite , a local variety of hydrotalcite . In 1849 , he married Mariah Kilham , who in 1850 bore him a second daughter , Mary Ellen . Seven additional children were born to the couple between 1854 and 1872 . In 1852 , Hough stepped down from the practice of medicine to concentrate on research and literary pursuits . He lived in Brownville and Albany and published " A History of St . Lawrence and Franklin Counties , New York " ( 1853 ) and " A History of Jefferson County in the State of New York " ( 1854 ) . He wrote prolifically , keeping three or more different manuscripts in progress at the same time in different rooms of his house . Explaining his work habits , he said , “ I seek repose in labor . ” In 1854 , Hough was appointed as superintendent of the 1855 New York State census , the first complete census of the state . He returned to Lewis County in 1860 to settle in Lowville , New York . The same year , he published " A history of Lewis County , in the state of New York " . In 1862 , he started a periodical , " The American Journal of Forestry " . Due to a lack of subscribers , he retired it after only a year . In 1861 , with the advent of the American Civil War , Hough worked as an inspector for the United States Sanitary Commission . In 1862 , he enlisted as a surgeon in the 97th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment . The same year , he translated French military surgeon Lucien Baudens ' account of medical conditions during the Crimean War , publishing it as " On Military and Camp Hospitals " . He published an account of his war experiences in " History of Duryee ' s Brigade " ( 1864 ) . Brigadier General Abram Duryée had commanded the 97th , 104th and 105th New York Infantry Regiment and the 107th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment . Father of American forestry . Ten years after supervising the 1855 New York State census , Hough returned to the job of overseeing the 1865 state census . Reviewing the returns , he noted with alarm a declining trend in the availability of timber . Finding additional evidence in the federal census of 1870 , which he also supervised , he presented a paper entitled " On the Duty of Governments in the Preservation of Forests " to the 1873 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Portland , Maine . Hough argued that Mediterranean countries had harmed the environment by excessive harvests of trees , and that a similar problem faced the United States . He proposed regulation of the use of forests and the establishment of forestry schools . As a result of Hough ' s presentation , the Association formed a committee to educate Congress and state legislatures on the dangers of deforestation , and to recommend legislation to avoid it . Hough was appointed to chair the committee . In 1876 , as a result of the Association ' s lobbying , Congress created the office of Special Agent in the U . S . Department of Agriculture to assess the state of the forests and lumber in the United States . USDA Commissioner Frederick Watts appointed Hough to fill the new position . Hough traveled widely to compile his official 1877 " Report on Forestry " . Congress ordered the publication of 25 , 000 copies of the 650 - page volume . In 1881 , the Division of Forestry was created within the Department of Agriculture , with Hough as its first chief . In 1883 , Secretary of Agriculture George B . Loring replaced Hough , whom he disliked , with Nathaniel Egleston . Hough resumed his previous role as special agent . Hough died in Lowville on June 11 , 1885 . His home , the Franklin B . Hough House , was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1963 .