American Forests was established in September 1875 as the American Forestry Association (AFA) by physician and horticulturist John Aston Warder and a group of like-minded citizens in Chicago. The object of the organization was to collect and disseminate information on forestry and to foster the conservation of the existing forests. In 1882, the AFA was merged into the American Forestry Congress, which organized that year in Cincinnati, Ohio. It became at once nationally influential in promoting the cause of forestry. In 1889 the original name was resumed.