Lewis R. (Lou) Grosenbaugh (November 4, 1913 – April 22, 2003) was a prominent

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

researcher and head of the Forest Service's first Pioneering Research Unit, in forest mensuration, in Berkeley, California. Known for his contributions to the fields of

forest inventory Forest inventory is the systematic collection of data and forest information for assessment or analysis. An estimate of the value and possible uses of timber is an important part of the broader information required to sustain ecosystems. When taki ...

, forest measurement, and forest management, Grosenbaugh built on Walter Bitterlich's idea of estimating the density of a forest with timber cruising so that individual trees could be used to estimate various stand measures, such as volume per acre.

Career

* 1936.

Junior Forester on the Ouachita National Forest * 1938 timber management assistant and assistant forester, Ozark National Forest * 1941 U.S. Naval Reserve, highest rank

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

* 1946 Associate Forester, National Forests in Florida * 1946 Silviculturist, Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans * 1951 Division Chief of Forest Management Research, Forest Genetics Research, Forest Fire Research, Forest Pathology Research and Watershed Management Research * 1960 Research Forester and head, Pioneering Research Unit—Mensuration, Berkeley, California * 1968 head, Pioneering Research Unit—Mensuration, Atlanta, Georgia * 1974 Retired, U.S. Forest Service * 1977 Adjunct Professor, University of Florida School of Forest Resources and Conservation

Legacy

A notable contribution of Grosenbaugh was adapting Bitterlich's techniques to forest inventories throughout the US. Grosenbaugh promoted the findings of European foresters and brought them the researchers and foresters in the US. Grosenbaugh had pioneered many original thoughts during his work in

statistical sampling In statistics, quality assurance, and survey methodology, sampling is the selection of a subset (a statistical sample) of individuals from within a statistical population to estimate characteristics of the whole population. Statisticians attem ...

of trees in forests, including subsampling trees to obtain a volume to basal area ratio.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosenbaugh, Lewis R. Forestry academics 1913 births 2003 deaths American foresters Yale College alumni Dartmouth College alumni