A biography of the first Chief of the US Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot. The film shows the germination and evolution of Gifford Pinchot's conservation ethos, his public service in the Forest Service and as Governor of Pennsylvania, and the contribution of his family estate, Grey Towers, to the federal government. Pinchot discovered his passion for conservation at Grey Towers, which is today a leader in the conservation community. The film investigates the conservation legacy of Gifford Pinchot, in work done in his lifetime and continuing today at Grey Towers National Historic Site and the Pinchot Institute for Conservation.