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

Raphael Zon
(1874 – 1956)
Biography Raphael Zon was born in Russia in 1874.  He fled when he was a young man, and went to study forestry at Cornell University.  He joined the US Forest Service in 1901 and became a protegé of Gifford Pinchot.  He also pioneered studies in the Office of Silvics and the Office of Forest Investigations and established field research stations.  He headed the Lake States Forest Experiment Station in Minnesota from 1923 until his retirement in 1944, where he concentrated on the relationship between forests and stream-flow and the effect of afforestation on the Great Plains.  He also developed an influential land-use credo, and involved himself in federal action for advocacy of land-use planning and efficient use of resources.*

*Source:  Schmaltz, Norman J.  "Zon, Raphael."  People in History:  An Index to U.S. and Canadian Biographies in History Journals and Dissertations.  Vol. 2.  Santa Barbara, California:  ABC-Clio, Inc., 1988.  Page 223.
Subjects Zon, Raphael
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

Zon, Raphael. Chestnut in Southern Maryland. Bulletin of the US Department of Agriculture #53, June 1904.                       
{has photo of Zon in the field}

Zon, Raphael. Principles Involved In Determining Forest Types. Proc. of the Society of American Foresters, May 1905.

Zon, Raphael. Management of Second Growth in the Southern Appalachians. US Department of Agriculture Circular #118, December 1907.

Zon, Raphael and Graves, Henry S. Light in Relation to Tree Growth. Bulletin of the US Department of Agriculture #92, June 1911. 

Zon, Raphael. Quality Classes and Forest Types. Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters, April 1913.

Zon, Raphael and Lamb, W. H. Letters from the National Archive II concerning Research and Dendrology. May 1913 and June 1915.  
{obtained February, 2002}

Zon, Raphael. Darwinism in Forestry. Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters, October 1913.                        
{also printed in the American Naturalist - September, 1913}

Bates, Carlos B. and Zon, Raphael. Research Methods in the Study of Forest Environment. Bulletin of the US Department of Agriculture #1059, May 1922.

Livingston, Burton E. Reviews: Research Methods in Ecology. Ecology (ESA), January 1924.                                        
{review of the Bates and Zon research methods bulletin}

Shantz, H. L. and Zon, Raphael. Atlas of American Agriculture. USDA Government Printing Office, 1924.

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 eight of Zon’s tables}

Zon, Raphael. The Need for Research in Forestry. Address to School of Forestry-University of Washington, May 1926.       
{copied at the National Agricultural Library}

Zon, Raphael. The Search for Forest Facts. American Forests (AFA), July 1930. 
(issue on American Forests and Forest Life)             
{pg 462 of this issue has a photograph and brief bio of Raphael Zon}

Munns, E. N. A Selected Bibliography of North American Forestry (Volume I). USDA - Government Printing Office (Miscellaneous Publication # 364), 1940. 
{fifty-five publications by Raphael Zon are listed in the Authors Index}

Pinchot, Gifford. Breaking New Ground. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1947. 
{mentions Zon and has a photograph of him}

Schmaltz, Norman J. Raphael Zon. Encyclopedia of American Forest and Conservation History - Macmillan Publishing Company, 1983.  
{biography on page 72}  
{in an encyclopedia edited by Richard C. Davis}

Olberding, Susan D. Fort Valley: The Beginnings of Forest Research. Forest History Today (FHS), Spring 2000.            
{photograph of Zon in his youth, and a description of his work with G. A. Pearson}

Note: Numerous photographs of Raphael Zon have been found in various publications.
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