The association of Bulgarian foresters brought up the critical issue of the sale price per stem. The population and local authorities were interested in decreasing those prices, while foresters insisted on their increase. The decrease of sale prices led to enhanced use of plantations and to their disruption and devastation.

The association initiated the creation of the first forestry school (1920), forestry department at the vocational technical school in Sofia (1919), forestry specialty at the Faculty of Agronomy at the Sofia University (1924), as well as organizing experimental forest activities.

In 1927 the managing committee of the association managed to buy for the needs of the association a solid four-storey building in the centre of Sofia which was later ationalized.

On the association of Bulgarian foresters' initiative, Environment Protection Union was founded in 1928.

For nearly four decades the Bulgarian foresters' voice of protest pacified political redilections and voracious raids on forests and provoked solution to vital issues concerning Bulgarian forests.

In 1930's tendencies for sudden professional disunity occurred which caused confrontation within the forester association.

On the 26 May 1929 the Union of Associations of Forestry Employees in Bulgaria was established, which claimed to improve labour conditions and well-being of forestry employees.

The Association of Bulgarian Foresters had clear awareness of the role and importance of the newly-established Union of Associations of Forestry Employees and aided their activities. Agreement for establishment

of a federation was achieved. Despite the exerted efforts the newly-established federation did not manage to carry out considerable activities.

On 12.06.1930 a group of foresters with higher forestry education established another organization named Association of Foresters - Academicians, which purpose was to aid the versatile development of forestry and forest science through education, without protecting the professional interests of Bulgarian foresters. In practice the establishment

of that association caused a commotion and disunity within the society of foresters and harmed the forestry in the country.

The necessity of unification was soon realized, as the disunity had caused  disappointment and apathy and lowered the professional selfconfidence of forester society. In 1939 the unification was achieved; the negative impact of the disunity had been realized and united Association of Foresters was again established.

The association had gone through a lot of hardships until its last congress, held on 15 and 16 February 1948, when a decision for terminating the association activities and its attachment to the trade-union of agricultural and forestry workers and employees was made. By that time the building belonging to the association had also been lost.

After the occurrence of social and political changes in the country the Association of Foresters was reestablished on 11 January 1990, which developed into Independent Union of Foresters the same year, and from 1992 named the Union of Bulgarian Foresters, acknowledged as heir-at-law and successor of the initially established in 1909 Association of Foresters.

This gave the Bulgarian foresters the opportunity to unite their efforts and stand their professional dignity in the name of forestry.

Bulgarian foresters are among the first specialists in Bulgaria, who perceived the necessity of creating their professional  organization to aid forest preservation and recuperation and contribute to forester association involvement in the public and economic life of the country. The organization of Bulgarian foresters, established ever since the dawn of forestry activities, cooperates for gaining professional reputation, as well as for wining recognition of the forester's profession as an important factor in forestry management and utilization in post-liberation Bulgaria.

The organization of Bulgarian foresters came into being at the beginning of the previous century, when the foundations of forest recuperation were laid and the struggle with the illegal felling and sales of that national wealth began. The first forester associations "Bulgarian forest society" (1897) and "Forester friendship" (1899) existed for a short period of time, but they are reasonably considered to be the pioneers who founded the first forester organization. They set the beginning of forest press in Bulgaria with their issues "Forester" (1899) and "Forester meeting" (1899). The association of Bulgarian foresters was established on 20 April 1909 and its activities started after the first assembly meeting, held from 23 to 25 April in Sofia the following year. The most vital forest issues were discussed: forest legislation, the aims of the forest management and unification of foresters for protection of their rights and professional interests. At that assembly meeting a decision was made for issuing the society press body, "Forest review" journal, whose first issue came out in 1910.

Stefan Donchev was elected to be the first Chairman of the association, who was one of the most prominent foresters of the time. He was born on the 25 February 1854 in Klissura, the region of Plovdiv. He graduated from the Forestry and Agriculture School in Krijevatz, Croatia and Royal Academy of Agriculture in Prosskau, Prussia with honour. In 1885 he was appointed in forest administration where he was at different responsible positions for over 25 years. His contribution to defining forest activities in Bulgaria was significant. He established forest nurseries, set the beginning of the green belt around Sofia and had inevitable merits for the foundation of the forester association. Stefan  Donchev was a member of the association leadership for seven years as its chairman and a member of the management committee.

There were many issues brought up to the newly elected leadership of the Association of Bulgarian Foresters, to the whole body of foresters and even to the Bulgarian legislation itself. Solving some of them was very hard, as they affected people's interests and traditions, which had been established for decades. Some of the most topical problems were: management of the so called yailaks (forests that were given for livestock summer pasture and later proclaimed as property of the state), grant of state forests to municipalities, forests exploitation, etc.

The concession form of forest exploitation severely affected the Bulgarian forests. That is why Bulgarian foresters supported the idea for putting the forest lands into the hands of the State, i.e. forest exploitation in which felling and transportation of logs to timber-yards had to be carried out by the authorities, and merchants should have bought timber from those timber-yards.

In those hard times the association raised its voice of protest against forest plundering and concession form of exploiting the best forest lands.