Roscoe Conklin Nicholson (January 22, 1887 – October 22, 1959) was a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

and early advocate of conservation, who played an important role in preserving forest land in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the early 20th century. Born and raised in Pine Mountain, an unincorporated community at the eastern edge of Rabun County,

he was the first

forest ranger A ranger, park ranger, park warden, field ranger, or forest ranger is a person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands and protected areas – private, national, state, provincial, or local parks. Their duties include (but are not limi ...

in Georgia. Before becoming Georgia's first forest ranger in 1912, he worked as a surveyor for the federal government. Nicholson advised the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

in its initial and subsequent land purchases in what is now the Chattooga River Ranger District of the

Chattahoochee National Forest The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a rela ...

. He and

Arthur Woody Arthur Woody (April1, 1884June10, 1946) was an American conservationist and humanitarian. He was born in Suches, Georgia. He saw his father kill the last deer in the North Georgia mountains in 1895. As a forest ranger for the United States Forest S ...

are considered to be the two most important early figures in the history of the Chattahoochee National Forest. In addition to being instrumental in the early land purchases, Ranger "Nick", as he was called, worked to prevent forest fires by purchasing bloodhounds to track arsonists and building the first

fire tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower, or lookout tower is a tower that provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout", whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit ...

in the area on Rabun Bald (second-highest peak in Georgia). He also played an important role in establishing telecommunications in the region, being responsible for having telephone lines run from

Clayton, Georgia Clayton is a city in Rabun County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 2,003 at the 2020 census. The county seat of Rabun County, it is in the Blue Ridge Mountains. History The area that eventually became Clayton was called the Dividi ...

to Pine Mountain. Ranger "Nick" retired in 1952. In 1960, the Coleman River Scenic Area near

was dedicated to Ranger "Nick" following his 40 years of public service in honor of his promotion of conservation ideals and other work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Roscoe 1887 births 1959 deaths People from Rabun County, Georgia American conservationists