Bernard Frank

The Wilderness Society.

Forestry expert, author and leading conservationist

Early Life

Born in New York City, Frank received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Cornell University.

Water, Land and People

In 1927, he began working for the United States Department of Agriculture in the U.S. Forest Service headquarters office in Washington, D.C., where he continued to work for three decades. He became an expert on soil conservation and watershed management and worked with the Tennessee Valley Authority and congressional committees on issues related to water and forestry.

Frank became a professor at Colorado State University in 1960.

"You could write the story of man's growth in terms of his epic concerns with water," Frank began an article he wrote called "Our Need For Water" in 1955. In addition to hundreds of articles, Frank wrote two books: Water, Land and People and Our National Forests.

Legacy

In addition to The Wilderness Society, Frank led the organization of the Rock Creek Watershed Association to restore and protect Rock Creek in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Frank was honored for his work in this area with the naming of Lake Bernard Frank in Derwood, Maryland.

He was also an active member of the Society of American Foresters, the Soil Conservation Society of America, the National Audubon Society and the Colorado Mountain Club.