Forest Wendell Buchanan, born near Amsterdam, was the youngest of four sons of Homer and Blanche Buchanan. By age 3, his passion for studying nature began as he followed his older brother John through the local woods. He graduated from Amsterdam High in 1924, earned a degree from Mount Union College in 1928, and graduated from Cornell University in Biological Science in 1947. On July 5, 1932, he married Clarice McKibben, and they had two children, Barry and Mary Blanche. He worked as a teacher and then principal at local high schools from 1928 to 1971. His lifelong passions were exploring and adventure, and he devoted his energy to researching nature and sharing that knowledge from Amsterdam to Puerto Rico to Wyoming. In his later years he was known as one of Ohio's foremost naturalists. In 1999 he was inducted into the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Hall of Fame, and Mount Union College dedicated the Forest Buchanan Wilderness Trail in 2006. His adventures included the Amazon and Rio Negro Rivers in 1930, African big game hunts in 1962, 1973, and 1976, being stranded for 14 days in Alaska in 1970, and a Canadian bison hunt in 1971. His achievements included founding the Jefferson County Nature Tour in 1941, having the Forest Buchanan Audubon Club named in 1943, receiving the Outstanding Service Award from Oglebay Institute in 1945, being named Outstanding Science Teacher by the Ohio Academy of Science in 1953, receiving the Ohio Conservation Achievement Award from O.D.N.R. in 1985, the National Outstanding Educator Award from Safari Club International Pittsburg in 1993, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History Award in 1996, the Liberty Hyde Bailey Award from the American Nature Study Society in 1997, recognition as Director Emeritus of the Pittsburg Safari Club, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Mount Union College, the Forest W. Buchanan Hiking Trail in Puerto Rico, and the Ohio Biological Survey Naturalist Award in 2000. He was remembered as a biologist, botanist, ornithologist, and violinist.