My Years in Public Service

About the Book

This is a retrospective on the five plus years I spent working at a high level in the North Carolina state government, my service as chairman of a congressionally established committee responsible for the development of a set of national forest planning regulations, and my thirteen years of service in North Carolina’s coastal management commission.

About the Author

Art Cooper was born August 15, 1931, in Washington, DC and graduated from Hebron Academy, Hebron, ME, in 1949. He attended Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, where he obtained his BA in Natural Science and Physical Education in 1953 and his MA in Botany in 1955. He obtained his PhD in Botany, with a major in ecology, from the University of Michigan in 1958. Cooper became Assistant Professor of Botany at North Carolina State University (then College) in 1958, moving to Associate Professor in 1963 and Professor in 1968. During that time he taught and did research in plant ecology and became active in the growing environmental movement in North Carolina. In 1971 he took leave from the University and became Assistant Secretary for Resource Management in the North Carolina Department of Natural and Economic Resources. His responsibilities included administration of the State's natural resource programs, policy development, and program coordination and planning. In 1976 he returned to NCSU as professor of Forestry. He became department head in 1980, served in that position until July 31, 1994, retired February 1, 2001, and is now Professor Emeritus of Forestry. Cooper served as Chairman of the Committee of Scientists which aided the US Forest Service in writing regulations for implementing the National Forest Management Act of 1976. He was involved in evaluation of those regulations and participated in several studies of the Forest Service's response to the requirements of the Resources Planning Act of 1974. From 1976 89 Cooper served as a member of the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission. In 1989 he resigned from the CRC to accept a position on the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission which he held until 1991. He has served as president (1980) and vice president of the Ecological Society of America in addition to serving as an editor of Ecology and Ecological Monographs. In 1984 he received the Society's Distinguished Service Award. He was a certified senior ecologist from 1982-2005 and served as a member of ESA's Board of Professional Certification from 1989 91. He was president of the North Carolina Academy of Science in 1978, was chairman of the Appalachian Society of American Foresters in 1990, and also was a member of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Forestry Association. Cooper served for 10 years as a trustee of the North Carolina chapter of the Nature Conservancy and was a member of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Environmental De-fense Fund, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and the Cradle of Forestry in America. He was North Carolina State University's Faculty Athletics Representative from 1990-2001 and served as President of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1994-95. From 1995-1997 he was a member of the NCAA Council and was a member of the Division I Management Council 1997-2001. From March, 1995 to June 1997 he served as Chairman of the Governor’s Task Force on Sustainable Forestry. He recently served on the Public Lands Task Force of the Society of American Foresters and was co-General Chair for the 2002 National SAF meeting and a member of the Program Committee. In October 1998 he received the Holladay Medal, NC State University’s highest award for faculty service. In September of 1999 he was awarded the Society of American Foresters' Gifford Pinchot Medal, one of the two highest awards of the Society, in recognition of contributions to the practice and teaching of Forestry in the United States. He was the College of Forest Resources 2000 nominee for the UNC Board of Governors Teaching Award. Cooper was married to the former Jean L. Farnsworth in 1953 and they have two sons, Paul A. Cooper, 58, who lives in Raleigh and Roy A. Cooper, 56, who lives in Cary, NC, one granddaughter, and a great grandson.