George Banzhaf
(1899-1987)
Inducted September 5, 1986
Plaque Engraving:
In recognition of establishing the first consulting firm in the Lake States and solving problems for forest industries and landowners involving timberland appraisal, mill location, wood supply availability, wood procurement procedures, department organization and timber taxation analyses.
He has serves the forestry profession as a guest lecturer at many universities and has been active in the Society of American Foresters which elected him Fellow and awarded him its Distinguished Service Award for his high level of professionalism.
More about George Banzhaf:
In 1924, two years after receiving his degree in forestry from the University of Michigan, George Banzhaf and his partner, Russell Watson, established the first forestry consulting firm in the Lake States – Banzhaf & Watson, Inc., Forest Engineers of Milwaukee. From its very inception, it was the goal of the founder to establish a reputation for professionalism normally attributed only to the field of law. To achieve this goal, he and his partner created a corporate practice designed to address policy level problems of the forest products industry.
The clients of Banzhaf & Watson and subsequently of George Banzhaf & Company (established in 1939) include most of the large forest products corporations throughout North America. Additionally, George Banzhaf provided services to some of the major national banks and investment banking firms throughout the United States. The services that George Banzhaf has specialized in providing to this sector of clients involve timberland appraisal, mill location, wood supply availability, wood procurement procedures, departmental organization, and timber taxation analyses. In his sixty years as a consulting forester he has helped to establish many of the techniques and procedures used in wood procurement and raw material supply analyses.
In 1924, Banzhaf & Watson initiated one of the first applications of selective or uneven-aged silviculture in the Lake States on lands of the Holt Lumber Company of Oconto, Wisconsin.
