University of North Carolina at Asheville
D.H. Ramsey Library
Special Collections/University Archives

Clarence F. Korstian
(1889 – 1968)
Biography Clarence F. Korstian was born in Saline County, Nebraska in 1889, and was educated in forestry at the University of Nebraska and Yale University, where he later received his doctorate.  During his early career with the U.S. Forest Service, he participated in field assignments in Arizona, Utah, and Idaho.  In 1921 he was transferred to the just-built Appalachian Forest Station in Asheville, NC, where he specialized in silviculture.  In 1930, he left the Forest Service and went to work for Duke University in Durham, NC, where he became a professor of forestry and the first director of Duke Forest.  He organized the Duke graduate school of forestry, and became its dean in 1938.  He was president of the Society for American Foresters national council from 1938-1941, and president of the North Carolina Forestry Association from 1943-1947.  He remained active in forestry even after his retirement in 1959, until he died in 1968.*

*Source:  Biographical Note:  Clarence F. Korstian, Early Forestry Education in North Carolina Oral History Interview Collection, Library and Archives, Forest History Society, Durham, North Carolina.
Subjects Korstian, Clarence F.
United States Forest Service
Forests and Forestry --- United States
Forestry and Community
Forestry Extension North Carolina
Forestry Extension Southern States
Forestry Industry
Forestry Innovations
Forestry Schools and Education
Forestry Schools and Education --- North Carolina
United States Department of the Interior

Bibliography

While working with the Appalachian Forest Experiment Station (AFES) (1921-1930):

Appalachian Forest Experiment Station Bulletins (1-11), 1922-1932.
{these summary bulletins are at the Southern Research Station – Asheville, NC}  [Contains reports about Korstian]

Korstian, Clarence F. Natural Regeneration of Southern White Cedar. Ecology (ESA), April 1924.
{has Korstian photo from the UNC-A collection}

*Kostian, Clarence F. and Jeffers, D. S. On the Trail of the Vanishing Spruce. Scientific Monthly, 1925.  (20:358-368).                
{listed in Natural Areas Journal – Nowacki, April 1993}.

Munns, E. N. and Brown R. M. Volume Tables for the Important Timber Trees of the United States. USDA-Gov. Print. Office, 1925.  
{Part II - Eastern Conifers has four of Kortsian’s tables related to white cedar}

Shelford, Victor (ESA) Naturalists Guide to the America’s. The Williams and Wilkins Company, 1926.                 
{see Korstian in: The Preservation of Natural Conditions in the National Forests pg 17; and Permanent Sample Plots in the National Forests pg 19}

After working with AFES:

*Korstian, Clarence F. and Brush W. D. Southern White Cedar. USDA Technical Bulletin #251, 1931.

The Editors. Society Officers of the Society of American Foresters. Journal of Forestry, February 1934.  (pg 265)                
{Korstian is listed as a council member until December, 1935}

Hawley, R. C. Book Review: The Duke Forest by Clarence F. Korstian and William Maughan. Journal of Forestry (SAF), November 1935.  (945-946)

Korstian, Clarence F. Book Review: Chronica Botanica, Vol. 1 by Fr. Verdoorn. Journal of Forestry (SAF), November 1935.  (946-947)

Korstian, Clarence F. Perpetuation of Spruce on Cut-Over and Burned Lands in the Higher Southern Appalachian Mountains. Ecological Monographs, 1937.

MacKinney, A.L. and Clarence F. Korstian. Felling, Girdling, and Poisoning Undesireable Trees in Forest Stands. [unknown] 1932.

Maughan, William. A Guide to Forestry Activities in NC, SC, and TN. Society of American Foresters, 1939. [bibliography]  {Korstian is on pg 278 ; at Pack Library – Asheville, NC.

Munns, E. N. A Selected Bibliography of North American Forestry (Volume I). USDA - Government Printing Office (Miscellaneous Publication # 364), 1940.  [Twenty-five publications by C. F. Korstian are listed in Authors Index].

Maunder, Elwood R. Clarence F. Korstian: Forty Years of Forestry. Forest History Society, 1959 [pub. 1969].                           
[43 page interview spanning his career]

Woods, Frank W. and Shanks, Royal E. Natural Replacement of Chestnut By Other Species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Ecology (ESA), July 1959.  (40:349-361).  
[Mentions Korstian]

Braun, E. Lucy. The Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America. Hafner Publishing Company, 1967 [f. 1950]. [bibliography]  
[pg 547 lists Korstian]

Pyle, Charlotte and Schafale, Michael P. Land Use History of Three Spruce-Fir Forest Sites in Southern Appalachia. Journal of Forest History, January 1988.  
[includes Korstian’s work]

Josephson, H. R. A History of Forestry Research in the Southern United States. USDA Forest Service, March 1989.

Ecological Society of America.  Korstian is listed as being Vice-President in 1939 and President in 1942.                 
[Source: web site listing of presidents and vice-presidents of the society - 2002]
Citation  U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804
Processed by Special Collections staff - Erica Ojermark