The history of the U.S. Forest Service.
Created by Heraldnet on Aug 16, 2011
Last updated: 08/19/11 at 09:23 PM
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Summer forest fires prompt Congress to fund the national fire plan to reduce fires; Forest Service budget cutbacks continue.
National forest recreation fee returns 95 percent to site or project where fee collected, volunteer hosts oversee daily operation of national forest campgrounds.
During the 1990s, old logging roads are no longer maintained and battles begin over public access to national forest trails.
Yellowstone forest fires on national park and adjacent national forest lands results in public pressure to let some fires burn naturally.
Concerns escalate about old growth logging, illegal marijuana grow operations on forestlands; environmental groups and logging companies battle over endangered northern spotted owl.
Mount St. Helens erupts in Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Archeological Resource Protection Act directs Forest Service to protect tribal cemeteries.
Clean Water Act enacted, aiming to reduce pollution in waterways.
National Forest Management Act spells out standards for managing multiple use
Mount Baker and Snoqualmie national forests merge.
Endangered Species Act protects plants, animals and their habitat.
National Environmental Policy Act requires evaluations of Forest Service projects.
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act provides for preservation of selected rivers in their natural state.
North Cascades National Park and Ross Lake National Recreation Area created out of the Mount Baker National Forest.
The National Historic Preservation Act gives the Forest Service the added job of cultural resource management
Wilderness Act establishes areas “untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
Rachel Carson publishes “Silent Spring” about the effects of DDT and other pesticides.
During the 1960s, opposition to clearcutting begins, forest experts say new trees won’t reach maturity.
During the 195os, people buy new cars and campers and travel to see the country.
Baby boom results in building boom, timber sales skyrocket.
Smokey Bear becomes the mascot of the National Forest.
Citizens of Japanese descent held in internment camps, some on National Forest lands.
World War II
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created.
Smoke jump training begins in Winthrop.
Olympic National Monument becomes national park.
REI established as an outdoor equipment cooperative in Seattle.
During the 1930s, CCC and WPA crews build lookout towers, roads and trails and plant 1.25 billion trees in national forests across the country.
Stock market crash and start of Great Depression
During the 1920s, national prosperity brings recreational use in nation’s forests, campgrounds open.
National Park Service established as part of U.S. Department of the Interior
World War I
Largest forest fire in U.S. history, 3 million acres in the Wallace (Idaho) Ranger District.
New law establishes that 25 percent of national forest timber sales benefit public schools and public roads in local counties.
The U.S. Forest Service becomes an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Gifford Pinchot named USFS chief under President Theodore Roosevelt.
Mount Rainier National Park created from forest reserve land.
Washington residents angered about President Grover Cleveland’s decree that puts millions of acres of forest into reserves, denying use for mining, timber harvests and grazing.
Washington becomes a state.
Yellowstone National Park established after increased interest in nature after the Civil War.
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