Earl S. Peirce was the Chief of the Division of State Cooperation for the United States Forest Service and was involved in timber salvage operations after the 1938 New England hurricane. Pierce graduated from Yale University in 1909 with a Bachelor of Science and then attended Yale Forest School in 1910. After graduating Pierce immediately joined the United States Forest Service and remained there in various positions such as Forest Assistant, Forest Examiner, and Forest Supervisor until his retirement in 1951. Following the 1938 New England Hurricane, Pierce was Chief of the Division of Co-operative Forest Protection which dealt with cooperation between the state forestry departments and private timber landowners to protect forests from fire damage. In this interview, Pierce discusses policy development, lumber operations, timber sales, the hazard-reduction protection program, the difficulties of navigating a project that was entirely new to the U.S. Forest Service and the task of working with multiple governmental agencies and private companies to complete the forest clearing after the 1938 hurricane. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting the history of forest policy in the United States.