Mason, Bruce and Girard | Donald Bruce’s 100th Anniversary

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Donald Bruce’s 100th Anniversary

Donald Bruce was born in Middlesex, Massachusetts in 1884. After graduating from Yale in 1906 and teaching mathematics for two years, Bruce returned to Yale to attend Forestry School and graduated in 1910. After graduation he passed he took the civil service exam and joined the Forest Service on July 1, 1910 as a forest assistant in the Helena and Coeur dAlene National Forests before moving to District 1 headquarters in Missoula, Montana. In 1913, he became Forest Supervisor at Flathead National Forest in Montana.

In 1909, USFS Chief Pinchot sent Bruce to Seeley Lake to inspect all the scalers working on the sale of Anaconda timber. Girard was in trouble with his supervisor who claimed the Girards numbers were too low. When Bruce investigates, he finds that the Girards tally is almost identical to his own calculations. Moreover, Girard made a huge impression on Bruce with his nonsensical, mountain-stretching, mediocre approach to scaling and cruising. On his return to Washington, DC, Bruce stopped at the Northern Forest Region office in Missoula and recommended Girards ’promotion to the manager, who oversees the entire Seeley Lake operation.

Bruce was a longtime friend and affiliate of Mason, who first met when they served together at USFS in Montana between 19101914. When Mason joined the faculty at Berkeley, he encouraged the department head to also recruit Bruce to the faculty . In 1924 he left faculty to rejoin the USFS in Washington, DC as an expert in forest measurements. Bruce eventually joined the firm full time in 1931 after working part time from the east coast since 1925.

In 1920 it was common practice for cruiseers to leave very little evidence, if any, of the work done on the farm. Bruce was part of the influential team that thought the trip had to be made so that the work could be audited. He helped develop a system where cruise cards were stored for each sample plot with directions to the location of the plot. For each skeleton on the ground, a witness tree was marked near the center of the skeleton and an aluminum knitting needle, chosen because they were easy to carry, was pushed into the ground in the center. The distance and bearing from the witness tree to the knitting needle were recorded so that the plot center could be easily moved. This way it is possible for a second cruiser to make a very credible cruise check. Although more expensive, the practice caught on.

Donald Bruce has served 41 years at Mason, Bruce & Girard and his legacy of a high level of analytical rigor and expertise still influences the company today.

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