Forest Aesthetics

Foresters will marvel at the similarities of problems and situations between Central European forestry of the late nineteenth century and early twenty-first-century American forestry while reading Forest Aesthetics, a textbook written in 1902 by Heinrich von Salisch and translated by Walter L. Cook Jr. and Doris Wehlau. Von Salisch, a forester and forest landowner in then-German Silesia who rebelled against his profession’s addiction to economic forestry and its attendant clearcutting, argued that there was a middle ground and room for not only protecting the forest’s attractiveness, but that through simple compromises, land managers could enhance the beauty of the forest without forgoing income. With its publication, von Salisch became the central promoter of aesthetics, trail maintenance, and forest health. Landscape management and design students and professionals will gain insight into the origins of forestry and landscape design, while others will find jewels of forest history in the author’s philosophy and practical applications.