El Yunque at 150: A Celebration of Forest, Science and People
By 3t Vakil | Eye On The Rainforest | 29 September 2026
On 26 September 2026, El Portal de El Yunque filled with people celebrating 150 years since the Luquillo Mountains were designated a forest reserve. The anniversary brought together the history of the land, the science that has helped us understand it, and the people whose lives have been devoted to its care.
El Yunque National Forest and the USDA Forest Service’s International Institute of Tropical Forestry organized the free public celebration in collaboration with the Friends of El Yunque Foundation. The day coincided with National Public Lands Day and included educational presentations, historical and contemporary photographs, children’s activities, information stations, local artisans, regional products and live music.
Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Natural and Environmental Resources, Waldemar Quiles, presented Keenan Adams, Forest Supervisor of El Yunque National Forest, with a proclamation from the Governor of Puerto Rico. The proclamation commemorated the 150th anniversary of the designation of the Luquillo Mountains as a forest reserve.
Honoring Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth
The 150th anniversary celebration was dedicated to Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth. Born in Chicago on 26 November 1915, Wadsworth earned a doctorate in forestry from the University of Michigan. He came to Puerto Rico in 1942 and began a career with the U.S. Forest Service that would span decades. He served as supervisor of the Caribbean National Forest and later directed the International Institute of Tropical Forestry.
Graphic credit to René Pedrosa, GeoAmbiente
Wadsworth carried out more than a hundred investigations and helped build the body of knowledge on which forest conservation and management in Puerto Rico and the wider Caribbean continue to draw. With Elbert Little, he co-authored Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. He also worked with Little and R. O. Woodbury on Flora of Virgin Gorda. His legacy lives in those publications, in the scientists and foresters he influenced, and in the forests he spent his life working to understand and protect.
At Las Casas de la Selva, Frank Wadsworth’s legacy is deeply personal. In the early 1980s of our sustainable forestry project in the mountains of Patillas, he advised and mentored its founders. He helped them see what tropical forestry could make possible: Puerto Rico could grow beautiful, valuable hardwoods while caring for its forests and watersheds. Then Secretary of DRNA, Hilda Soltero was particularly helpful in that era to secure the land on which to carry out this ambitious project of which 300 acres would be for timber planting, and 700 acres to be left as watershed protection and conservation.
Frank mentored and encouraged us again in the early 2000s, as we began thinning and harvesting trees planted 17 years earlier and finding markets for their timber. After Hurricane María, he was especially proud to see Puerto Rico Hardwoods recover valuable fallen trees—particularly mahogany—and give the wood a new life. Frank firmly believed that a wood industry could thrive in Puerto Rico if its forests were managed responsibly. His confidence in that possibility, and in our ability to do the work, has stayed with us.
Frank's beloved wife, Isabelita Colorado, received the award honoring his extraordinary contribution to El Yunque and tropical forestry.
A forest with 150 years of protected history
In 1876, King Alfonso XII of Spain designated approximately 10,000 hectares—24,710 acres—of the Luquillo Mountains as a forest reserve. It was an early recognition of the value of protecting the region’s forests, soils and water. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Luquillo Forest Reserve under United States administration.The forest’s role has continued to grow. In 1956, it was designated the Luquillo Experimental Forest, acknowledging its importance to research. Generations of scientists have since studied its trees, wildlife, rivers, soils and responses to hurricanes. El Yunque is a living forest and one of the world’s most intensively studied tropical forests. The anniversary programme made room for many ways of telling that story. María Falcón served as master of ceremonies.
L-R: Historians Carlos Domínguez Cristóbal and Jorge Nieves, archaeologist Raymond Feliciano, El Yunque land planner Gabriela Morales, retired Forest Service photographer Jerry Bauer, and Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research programme researcher Monique Picón were among the speakers. Together, their fields reflect the many layers of El Yunque’s history: its people and landscapes, the record preserved in photographs, and the knowledge built through long-term observation.
Presenters and Award Ceremony Participants
María Falcón, journalist, producer and director of series and documentaries on nature, the environment and culture.
Dr. Grizelle González, Director of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry.
Keenan Adams, Forest Supervisor of El Yunque National Forest.
Fabiola Morales, Río Grande Tourism Office.
José María Muriel Palomino, Consul General of Spain.
Waldemar Quiles, Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources.
Recognitions
The ceremony also honored people whose work represents different parts of forest conservation. These awards told an important story of their own. Protecting a forest takes research and management, but also education, relationships with neighboring communities and the ability to work together over many years.
Lifetime Achievement: Dr. Ariel Lugo, scientist, ecologist and former Director of the USDA Forest Service’s International Institute of Tropical Forestry, was honored for his lifelong contributions to tropical forest science and conservation. His wife, Helen, also spoke, bringing her exuberant warmth to the celebration.
Collaboration and Co-management: Dr. Edgardo González, Director of the Centro para la Conservación del Paisaje
Community Liaison: Lissette González, former Executive Director of Fundación Amigos De El Yunque
Management: Pedro Ríos, Leader of the Ecosystem Management and Planning Team at El Yunque National Forest
Education: Víctor M. Cuevas, wildlife biologist, environmental interpreter and educator with the U.S. Forest Service
Investigation: Dr. Tom H. White, wildlife ecologist and biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
What we carry into the next 150 years
An anniversary asks us to look backward, but a forest always asks us to look ahead. The 1876 designation began a long history of protection. The work since then has been carried by researchers, forest staff, educators, community members and countless others who have returned to the forest year after year.
At Las Casas de la Selva, we feel that continuity in our own daily work: protecting watersheds, restoring endangered trees, learning from hurricanes and bringing young people into direct contact with the rainforest. Forest conservation is never finished. It is a commitment renewed through attention and action.
These photographs capture moments from a day of recognition and celebration at El Portal. They also remind us that El Yunque’s greatest legacy is alive all around us—in the forest itself, in the knowledge it continues to yield, and in the people who will care for it next.
Acknowledgements
Huge heartfelt thanks to María Falcón for guiding the programme and holding everything together throughout the day.
Thank you to Fundación Amigos de El Yunque, El Yunque National Forest and the International Institute of Tropical Forestry for organizing the celebration, and to the staff of the El Portal de El Yunque Rainforest Center for welcoming everyone and helping make the day possible.
Thank you to my friends involved in tropical forestry, ecology, and wood! It was wonderful to spend some time with Dr. Jim Ackerman, Dra. Elvia Melendez, Dr. William Gould, Dra. Grizelle Gonzalez, Richard & Andria Druit, Ariza Torres, and Ariel Lugo!
There was a special connection for us in the awards themselves: the mahogany awards themselves were partially made by Puerto Rico Hardwoods. Wood became a way to honor lives dedicated to forests. We were delighted to contribute something made here in Puerto Rico to such a meaningful occasion.
2019 Frank Wadsworth visits the Puerto Rico Hardwoods yard in Caguas. L-R Andrés Rúa, Frank H. Wadsworth, Maria Falcon, 3t Vakil
Thrity ‘3t’ Vakil, FLS, President,
Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation
Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project,
Las Casas de la Selva, | HC 63 Box 3879, Patillas, | Puerto Rico, 00723
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Photos by 3t Vakil, Sept 2026