The Life of Maurice Goddard

Forest technology students and faculty gathered in the Weistling Student Center yesterday evening to watch the Maurice Goddard documentary on WITF TV. The documentary gave a fascinating portrait of Goddard, who, in a long career at Penn State and for the Commonwealth of PA, was the acknowledged architect of much of the State's forest and parks conservation policy. He worked tirelessly to expand the number of state parks so that everyone in Pennsylvania would be within 25 miles of a state park. Instrumental in securing funding for conservation projects, he led efforts in flood prevention and control.

Goddard began his career as an instructor at Penn State Mont Alto after graduating from the University of Maine, in 1935. Eventually, he became the director of Mont Alto before leading the entire School of Forest Resources.

Goddard served as a staff officer in WWII and brought that sense of military discipline to the life of the forestry school. One interviewee, Jim Nelson, told the story of how Goddard made ties mandatory for meals. No tie and no food. Nelson told how the students, after a day of hard field work, would put on a clip-on bow tie before entering the dining hall. At the time meals were served in Weistling Hall, which is where we were watching the film.

The show was an inspirational reminder of the importance of public service for all foresters at any point in their career. Click here to see the trailer.

Mira Lloyd Dock Marker

The Historical Marker Database is a favorite I like to follow. Today the marker for Mira Lloyd Dock in Harrisburg was entered. Dock (1853-1945) was a conservation pioneer for her work in parks around Harrisburg, conservation education, and with the Pennsylvania Forestry Commission. Her marker could have been just as easily placed in Mont Alto. She was a frequent lecturer at the Forest Academy. She also mentored many of the students in the first classes, inviting them to Sunday teas at her home in Caledonia.

She also gave many talks on forestry and conservation at Mont Alto and around Pennsylvania. Take a look at some of the slides in her glass lantern shows at the Penn State Library.

Henry Sipes Memorial Tree

During a surveying exercise this morning I came across a memorial black walnut tree for F. Henry Sipe (PSFS 25). Sipe became a forester and surveyor in West Virginia. He wrote a book Compass Land Surveying, of which I have the final 1979 edition. It was a detailed handbook for doing forest property surveys. It's definitely a classic! It's great to have these historical reminders around the Mont Alto campus.