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Forest pathology for the last century: an overview of the symposium.

Forest pathology in the United States is not an old discipline, with most of its practice having been in the 20th century. There were several truly dominating forest pathology stories in the United States in that century, some concerning devastating losses following pathogen introductions, others following changes in forestry practices, and some concerning subtle changes in our perception of microorganisms in forest ecosystems. A historical look at those stories, describing them and placing them into perspective, reflecting on our actions, and highlighting what was learned from years of research, was appropriate as we celebrated our past and looked to the future at the turn of the century. Using that retrospective can help us gain perspective for challenges in the 21st century. The details of the various events are fascinating to those in the discipline, at least in part because they comprise our history. The importance, though, is that lessons be taken from past experiences so a better job can be done in the future. In this light, the symposium “Forest Pathology for the Last Century: A Retrospective and Directions for the Future” was held at the 2000 annual meeting of The American Phytopathological Society (APS) in New Orleans, LA. It was sponsored by the APS Forest Pathology Committee. The organizing committee consisted of James Walla, William Jacobi, and Robert Schmidt. John Lundquist, U.S. Forest Service, obtained approval of and helped preside during the symposium. In just one symposium, even the most important problems and accomplishments of the last century could not be adequately revisited. The program provided little more than a snapshot of forest pathology in the 20th century, but the speakers addressed key issues of interest to all working in forest ecosystems. The speakers for the symposium were J. A. Walla, W. L. MacDonald, R. L. Anderson, B. B. Kinloch, Jr., H. R. Powers, Jr., D. W. Fulbright, the late E. B. Smalley, P. D. Manion, and F. H. Tainter. J. A. Walla provided an introduction to the symposium. This was followed by two presentations that provided an overview of forest pathology in the 20th century. W. L. MacDonald made the keynote presentation, “Dominating North American Forest Pathology Issues of the 20th Century” (3). He reminded the audience of the dominating stories (when, where, and why) and briefly described the situation as perceived at the time and now. R. L. Anderson presented “Changing Forests and Forest Management Policy in Relation to Dealing with Forest Diseases” (1). He described forests and forest management policy of the early 1900s and how changes in those occurred and resulted in changes in the way we dealt with forest diseases through the century. The second section of the symposium dealt with what happened in the 20th century with four individual diseases. The speakers and the diseases they dealt with were B. B. Kinloch, Jr., white pine blister rust (2); H. R. Powers, Jr., fusiform rust; D. W. Fulbright, chestnut blight; and the late E. B. Smalley, Dutch elm disease. These presentations provided a retrospective (what happened and what did we learn) and a direction (what are the challenges and opportunities for the future) involving specific, high-profile forest diseases. They described the losses that were incurred, the efforts undertaken, and the success and failures of those efforts. They focused on where we are at in terms of dealing with the diseases, what resources and information we now have that are key to future management, and what the needed steps in the 21st century appear to be. Not all of these authors participated in the symposium proceedings. An additional paper involving fusiform rust was prepared by R. A. Schmidt (5) so that one of our best success stories in forest pathology would be included in the proceedings. The final section of the symposium provided perspectives regarding forest pathology in the 20th century. P. D. Manion presented “Evolution of Concepts in Forest Pathology” (4), in which some of the foundation concepts of forest pathology that emerged in the 20th century were discussed with a current perspective. F. H. Tainter presented “Perspectives and Challenges from the 20th Century” (6), in which he provided perspectives on where we have been, where we are now, and where we are going in forest pathology. It was clear during the symposium that forest pathology in the United States made substantial advances during the 20th century. Our base of knowledge of plant pathogens in forest ecosystems is now as good as anywhere in the world. Not all the wars were won; indeed, we know by now not to expect disease control, but rather to strive to make gains toward disease management. We learned that disease management is best done by prevention: prevention of pest introduction, prevention of losses by management or cultural means, and prevention by selection or breeding for resistance. We Corresponding author: J. A. Walla: E-mail address: j.walla@ndsu.nodak.edu