57 Facts About Theodore Lukens

Theodore Parker Lukens was an American conservationist, real estate investor, civic leader, and forester who believed that burned over mountains could again be covered in timber which would protect watersheds.

Theodore Lukens established Henninger Flats tree nursery, which provided seed stock for an estimated 70,000 trees.

Theodore Lukens worked for the United States Forest Service and was acting supervisor of the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve and the San Bernardino Forest Reserve in 1906.

Theodore Lukens remained prominent in civic and conservation issues until his death in 1918.

Theodore Lukens was interested in growing plants, even before moving out to Southern California from Illinois, where he had owned and operated a nursery in Whiteside County, Illinois.

Theodore Lukens already knew of the hardwoods in his native Midwest but now the former nurseryman sought to learn about the native and non-native trees of Southern California.

Theodore Lukens undertook several expeditions to study the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains from 1897 to 1899.

Theodore Lukens learned the "paradise" of Southern California had some serious problems as well.

Theodore Lukens learned how to open the cones by boiling them and the method of watering and care that produced seedlings.

In 1903, Theodore Lukens expanded the tree-planting enterprise with a lease on the Henninger property for the US Forest Service, of which he was an employee.

Theodore Lukens worked to make Henninger Flats a high elevation tree nursery that would produce seedlings for reforestation and watershed restoration efforts.

Theodore Lukens's work was ranked by the speakers as among the most important for the future of Southern California and as a climax Mr Maxwell said that in his years of travel and investigation of reclamation projects he had found none more of importance to mankind than the thing Mr Lukens had done in solving the problem of reforestation of denuded watershed areas.

Those selected conifers were thriving when Theodore Lukens made a return visit about ten years later.

Theodore Lukens was instrumental in the discovery of the first major gold strike is the San Gabriel Mountains and settled in the small hanging valley above Altadena, California.

Theodore Lukens developed the site by building a house and a cistern for water storage.

Theodore Lukens claimed water rights in 1886 for domestic and irrigation use from the first canyon north of the flats.

The property was mostly unoccupied until Theodore Lukens' second visit in 1902.

Theodore Lukens worked for the US Forest Service from 1900 to 1906.

Theodore Lukens's duties included investigative trips and he wrote detailed reports on other forests, as well as attended meetings and conventions.

Theodore Lukens knew how serious the threat of wildfire was in the mountains and pushed for more firefighters, which the Forest Service granted.

Theodore Lukens hired 55 men for firefighting and other duties, but less than one year later, he was instructed to reduce the force to 25 which he found unacceptable.

Theodore Lukens wrote letters to Pinchot and influential friends in an attempt to bring political pressure to rescind the order.

Theodore Lukens made several trips to Yosemite National Park, each time his interest in every aspect of nature intensified, and led to research, correspondence and interviews with experts for whom he collected various specimens and photographed specific items.

Theodore Lukens joined the fledgling Sierra Club in 1894 after a visit to Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Theodore Lukens outfitted himself at Crocker's Station, a stagecoach stop and resort, with food, two pack animals and Elwell the guide.

Theodore Lukens was indeed Muir, and Lukens persuaded him to join his well-stocked entourage and they headed back to Hetch Hetchy Valley, but only after Lukens took a photo to memorialize the event.

Theodore Lukens was on several Pasadena committees with Jeanne Carr and shared an interest in tree-growing.

At Muir's urging, Theodore Lukens became actively involved in several Sierra Club campaigns: to purchase privately held toll roads for public use into Yosemite National Park, and to protect Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite.

Theodore Lukens corresponded with various people and local newspapers concerning the Sierra Club campaign.

Theodore Lukens spent most of 1896 actively involved in the politics of conservation, except for three months spent mountaineering in Yosemite, which ended in controversy a year later.

Theodore Lukens was accompanied by Walter Richardson, a young Pasadenian.

Theodore Lukens was unapologetic about the hunting incident but Muir in turn advocated the creation of wildlife refuges within the national park and forest reservations.

Theodore Lukens advocated fire protection, tree planting and removal of stockmen from the reserve.

Theodore Lukens wrote little, but was a prolific photographer, documenting trees, rocks and conditions during the pack trips.

Theodore Lukens was often quoted in newspapers, because he gave talks to community groups about his ideas for preserving the watersheds.

Theodore Lukens was then four months shy of his 67th birthday.

Theodore Lukens was born into a German Quaker family in Ohio on October 6,1848.

Theodore Lukens enlisted in the US Cavalry at 20 and two years later received an honorable discharge.

Theodore Lukens began his own nursery business in Whiteside County, Illinois, growing fruit and ornamental trees.

Theodore Lukens involved himself in local community affairs, including the job of tax collector from 1873 to 1876.

Theodore Lukens was active in his new community and by 1884, he was elected Justice of the Peace, as well as a member of the new Republican Committee.

Theodore Lukens is credited with selling his large interests in the Raymond Tract, one of the earliest subdivisions of acreage at the time.

Theodore Lukens' was able to semi-retire from his real estate business, he sold his properties and traveled.

Theodore Lukens wrote the first advertising booklet for the town, in the hope of getting the hotel guests to settle in Pasadena.

In 1891, Theodore Lukens was a cashier for the Pasadena National Bank and by 1895, bank president.

Theodore Lukens helped the local banking industry during the Panic of 1893 by enlisting aid from bankers in Los Angeles.

The council voted against their president and for the franchise and Theodore Lukens left with his convictions intact.

Theodore Lukens was a member of many local boards and committees, such as the Pasadena World's Fair Committee and provided orange trees and 60 palm trees for the exhibit in the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, Illinois in 1892 that commemorated the 400th anniversary of America's discovery by Christopher Columbus.

Theodore Lukens was awarded a medal of honor with his name inscribed.

Theodore Lukens became a grandfather in 1891 to Charlotte Jones, and in 1893, Ralph Jones.

Theodore Lukens then requested his three-month leave of absence from the Forest Service.

Theodore Lukens remarried July, 1906 to Hannah Sybil Swett, a long-time family friend and Christian Scientist.

Theodore Lukens promoted the establishment of a park above Devil's Gate Dam, which eventually became a reality as Oak Grove Park.

Two months before his death, Theodore Lukens wrote a report on conservation and forestry for the annual meeting of the Bureau of Forestry.

Theodore Lukens died July 1,1918, and is buried next to his first wife at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California.

Theodore Lukens was married in 1890 to Edward Everett Jones, the Bank of Pasadena cashier who replaced Lukens, and they had two children, Charlotte and Ralph.

The "Father of Forestry" Theodore Lukens is memorialized today with Mount Lukens, Lukens Lake in Yosemite, and his home listed on the National Register of Historic Places.