Frederick George Kilp
(1894-1969)
Inducted February 24, 1988
Plaque Engraving:
Frederick George Kilp, leader and pioneer in industrial in Wisconsin. Joining the Nekoosa- Edwards Paper Company in 1924, he rose to the position of woodland manager of the company, serving until his retirement in 1962.
His services to Wisconsin Forestry included a leadership role in the Society of American Foresters, Trees for Tomorrow, Forest Industries Information Committee, the of the Wood County Board and the Forestry Advisory Committee to the Wisconsin Conservation Commission.
He served Wisconsin forestry for five decades as an industrial forester pioneering reforestation program and as a visionary urging sound forestry planning.
More about Frederick George Kilp:
A graduate of the University of Wisconsin Forestry School, Mr. Kilp was engaged in field work with the Wisconsin Conservation commission from 1916 to 1923. From 1923 to 1925 he was Forester for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Co., and on January 1, 1926, he became the first chief forester of Nekoosa Edwards Paper Company.
With this hiring, Mr. Kilp became the first industrial forester in the Lake States region and Nekoosa Edwards Paper Company the first paper company to start an industrial forestry program.
In 1950, along with several other conservationists, he promoted the first Wisconsin forest inventory and served as chairman of the Inventory Steering Committee, which has been a necessary forestry tool for managing Wisconsin lands. He was a senior member of the Society of American Foresters at the time.
Under his direction, Nekoosa woodlands’ holdings grew to more than 235,000 acres of forest land under intensive forest management. Included in this program was the establishment of the first industrial forest nursery in 1926, that has been expanded to 80 acres of nursery area.
