File:1956. Bertha and Walter J. Buckhorn leaving Portland, Oregon via United Air Lines for Washington D.C., where Buck received a USDA Superior Service Award on June 6, 1956. (34852565575).jpg

Bertha and Walter J. Buckhorn leaving Portland via United Air Lines for Washington D.C. where Buck received a USDA Superior Service Award on June 6, 1956.

Photo by: R.L. Furniss Date: May 31, 1956

The Honor Awards Ceremony took place at the Sylvan Theater in Washington D.C. on June 6, 1956. The award presented to Walter J. Buckhorn by the Secretary of Agriculture Ezra T. Benson was: "For vision and leadership in pioneering and developing forest insect aerial surveys in the states of Oregon and Washington." From: <a href="https://archive.org/details/SER73922313010" rel="nofollow">archive.org/details/SER73922313010</a>

Credit: USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection. Collection: Portland Station Collection; La Grande, Oregon. Image: PS-1379

To learn more about this photo collection see: Wickman, B.E., Torgersen, T.R. and Furniss, M.M. 2002. Photographic images and history of forest insect investigations on the Pacific Slope, 1903-1953. Part 2. Oregon and Washington. American Entomologist, 48(3), p. 178-185.

For more information about Walter J. Buckhorn, see: Furniss, M.M., 2000. Walter Julius Buckhorn (1899–1968)—Legendary Forest Entomologist, Not of the Classroom Kind. American Entomologist, 46(3), pp.133-140.

For geospatial data collected during annual aerial forest insect and disease detection surveys see: <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/forest-grasslandhealth/insects-diseases/?cid=stelprdb5286951" rel="nofollow">www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/forest-grasslandhealth/insects-...</a>

For related historic program documentation see: <a href="https://archive.org/details/AerialForestInsectAndDiseaseDetectionSurveysInORandWA19472016TheSurveyHighRes" rel="nofollow">archive.org/details/AerialForestInsectAndDiseaseDetection...</a> Johnson, J. 2016. Aerial forest insect and disease detection surveys in Oregon and Washington 1947-2016: The survey. Gen. Tech. Rep. R6-FHP-GTR-0302. Portland, OR: USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection. 280 p.

For additional historic forest entomology photos, stories, and resources see the Western Forest Insect Work Conference site: <a href="http://wfiwc.org/content/history-and-resources" rel="nofollow">wfiwc.org/content/history-and-resources</a>