Langille, William A.

William Alexander Langille was born in Nova Scotia and came to Alaska in 1898. Under Teddy Roosevelt's forestry chief, Gifford Pinchot, Langille surveyed the Kenai Peninsula in 1904 and produced a report that recognized its value as a wildlife and hunting preserve. He recommended portions of the proposed Kenai Forest Reserve be designated as game preserves, including Sheep Creek at the head of Kachemak Bay for Dall sheep and Caribou Hills for the few remaining caribou. Following other of Langille's recommendations, the Chugach National Forest was created July 23, 1907, which at that time extended from the Copper River on the east to Cook Inlet on the west, Kachemak Bay on the south, and included all the Chugach Mountains to the north. His 1904 report also proved valuable in tracking the destruction of the spruce bark beetle 90 years later. In 1909, Langille was named supervisor over what is today's Tongass National Forest. Langille was one of Alaska's early conservationists and many historians consider him to be the father of forestry in Alaska. He died August 21, 1956, in Portland at age 84. [Information obtained from the US Fish & Wildlife Service Kenai National Wildlife Refuge web site http://kenai.fws.gov/overview/ and The Anchorage Times, Aug. 30, 1956, p. 5].