I had the pleasure of experiencing Bob's passion for red pine during several of his visits to our lab here in Grand Rapids. It amazed me that someone who was away from this forest for so long still had such an intimate knowledge of how it worked. What I gained from his visits more than anything was the importance of maintaining long-term studies in silviculture. I hope that he took some pride in knowing that several of the studies he initiated (red pine growing stock experiment, Birch Lake cutting methods experiment, red pine prescribed burning study) are still being maintained and actively monitored and are contributing to forestry science in ways he probably never imagined. His name is always mentioned as the originator of these studies when we give colleagues and students tours of the Cutfoot Experimental Forest and Birch Lake Plantation.

I first encountered Bob in 1973 when I used his ground breaking work on red pine to write a growth and yield model for my Master's program. A number of years passed when in 2005 Bob invited me to write an updated model for his updated publication on red pine management. Bob was a real professional in everything he did. Bob was a business manager, a high ranking government official, a politician, a scientist and an all-around good guy. His accomplishments would be tough to beat, and he will be missed.

Thank you all for the kind words about my Dad. Many of the names are familiar and we may have crossed paths at their home. Losing a parent is difficult but he led a rich, full and productive life and the writings here attest to that. We miss him.

I was saddened to see that such a wonderful gentleman and professional had passed away. Bob was the Director of the Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station when I began studying for my doctorate at Oregon State University. That was an incredibly important position with the wonderful research underway in this region. I got to know Bob much better later in his career and life and he was always a passionate supporter of research, a dedicated professional, and a fellow forester. But more than that he was a kind and caring man. I smile just thinking about him. One of my colleagues, the late Dr. Ben Stout, was a great friend of Bob's, and enjoyed sharing ideas. There are always new "saplings" that come along to replace the dominate trees as they fall over time. But I will always remember that special, beautiful tree that was Bob as he towered over the forest of ideas with his benevolent shade of logic and kindness.

Bob has been a treasured colleague and friend for 40+ years. This started when he pulled me out of my comfort zone to work for him in Washington DC. Perhaps he thought that the experience would make me smarter. Three years later he sent me to the farthest location available to him - Portland, OR; he probably knew his strategy had failed! But this illustrates one of his leadership qualities. He placed lots of emphasis on growing a cadre of leaders in Forest Service research. Among his many other management initiatives, he also focused on highest quality science. In the mid-1980s we both retired from the Forest Service, and ended up in Corvallis where we frequently interacted in professional settings, in elk hunting, and eventually in a weekly brown-bag lunch. The latter were exhilarating as we solved world class problems to our satisfaction. Some one-upmanship was involved, and he loved to goad me about scoring more elk than me. I am bound to cherish 40 years of experiences interacting with him. But my one elk had bigger horns!

My condolences to the Buckman family. Bob was a kind, patient man who was generous with his time and advice. He never tried to dine out on his many accomplishments but still found ways to share what he had learned with all who knew him and worked with him. I was one of the many who benefitted from Bob's passionate and effective support for forestry research and in particular his recognition of the importance of international forestry. I was grateful to have known him.

Maureen and I met Bob right after he moved to Corvallis in 1986. He taught the international forestry course. What a treat for us students to meet the IUFRO executive team when they came to visit him in Corvallis. Just about any time he met a student from any part of the world, he started the conversation: “I had the great pleasure to visit your country in…”.
He introduced me to crabbing (he had the boat and crab pots and I had the muscle to pull – note that I learned from him: I have a boat now and am pulling the same stunt with my younger colleagues and students). After a successful crabbing trip he found out that Maureen did not eat crab. He got on the phone right away: “you come over here”. Marie and Bob prepared a crab feast at their home (the first of many); Maureen has enjoyed crab ever since.
During my time in Minnesota Bob’s name came up on many, many occasions. I always felt very privileged that I could say “I fished with that guy”. Bob and his cohort “the class of 1950” have legend status in the gopher state.
Great memories. He was always willing to share, even the location of his second (!) favorite fishing hole.

I am deeply saddened by Bob's passing. He and I started our careers together up at the Lake States Forest Experiment Station in Grand Rapids, MN. I followed Bob by about a year, in 1965. Bob was in charge of red pine management studies, and I often assisted him in re-measuring long term study plots of red pine management. His pioneering work on applying mathematics to red pine growth and yield was innovative. He was a close friend throughout his career to both my wife Barbara and I. we will miss him. Our best wishes to his family.

I briefly shared office space with Bob in Corvallis when I was just starting out my career in Forest Service Research in 1996. He was always cheerful and helpful, and displayed an undiminished passion for forest science (he told me all--and I mean all--about his projects). I didn't learn about his illustrious career until later, and never would have guessed that he was a "big shot"--he was humble and gracious throughout. My respect and appreciation to Bob and condolences to the Buckman family.

Our Condolences to Buckman family on Bob’s passing. I met Bob the first time in Nairobi, Kenya in 1988, when he was serving as President of the International Union of Forestry Research (IUFRO). He was on a mission to visit the IUFRO Special Program for Developing countries located at the World Agroforestry Center in Nairobi, Kenya. Later I became his graduate student at Oregon State University and he was my major professor for my Ph.D. program. I completed my Ph.D. program in Forest Resources from OSU in 1993 under his guidance and supervision.

Once I completed my Ph.D. program, he created a Post-doc position and I worked with him on the Red Pine Growth and Yield Study in the Lake States, this was his life time work on Red Pine research. I was fortunate to work with him on this research project, which was later published by the USDA North Central Station as GTR NC-271.

Bob was a great mentor to me in my professional life. He was very supportive to my family and me, as we transition to our new country the United States. He was our great family friend. He will be greatly missed!
Badege, Bezu, Teddy and Joseph.

My condolences to the Buckman family on Bob's passing. We had many nice times together during Bob's years in Grand Rapids....he and my Dad, Zig, were co-workers at "the lab". My Dad always referred to him as "Rapid Robert" as he was such a "hard charger" and worker. i had a chance to continue some of Bob's work when i moved back to Grand Rapids to work at the same lab that Bob and my Dad worked at.......the work that i especially liked was the series of burn plots that he established at Cutfoot Exp. Forest. They are still being maintained and very interesting after many years (i believe 40+ by now) since the last treatments....a legacy for sure. Finally i "grew up" during the years that Bob was in GR and hunted for at least 5 yrs with him and the Forest Service gang at the Skelly Lake shack---quite a growing up experience for a kid and likely one reason i followed Bob and the rest of the hunting shack gang into a forest research career. And as soon as i had enough money i bought a deer rifle just like his--a winchester '06 with a scope!!

My dad brought his love of outdoors and learning to all of us kids. During our time in Washington, DC he would insist we go visit a museum or battlefield every Sunday afternoon. As a 13 year old I wasn't so happy about it, but now I can't thank him enough. He lived a dream life with hunting, fishing, passion for his work, travel and a strong family heritage.