Daniel Boone National Forest - History

History

In 1937, a national forest was established containing 1,338,214 acres (5,416 km2) within its proclamation boundary. As of June 1937, the Forest Service had purchased only 336,692 acres (1,363 km2). Most early purchases were large, isolated tracts owned by lumber and coal companies with but few inhabitants. The Forest Service has since had difficulty acquiring more land within the proclamation boundary, the bulk of which was, and still remains, small owner-operated farms.

Due in part to World War II, funds for land acquisition were curtailed in the early 1940s. Substantial acquisition efforts could not resume until the mid-1960s. The lengthy cessation of land acquisitions, except for period during the forest's renaming, caused a highly fragmented ownership pattern.

Naming the forest entailed considerable debate. The name 'Daniel Boone National Forest' was advocated by various groups, and was favored by most local leaders in Kentucky, before the area's formal designation as the Cumberland National Forest soon after its inception. Protests began immediately after the national forest was named.

The naming issue was reopened in the late 1950s. The Forest Service investigated the name 'Cumberland', and found it came to Kentucky in 1750 when Thomas Walker named the Cumberland River in honor of Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The Duke had defeated the Scottish Highlanders in 1746 at the Battle of Culloden, an especially brutal conflict. Many Scottish families fled to America and ultimately Kentucky as a result of the event. The Forest Service found that for their descendants still living in eastern Kentucky, the name 'Cumberland' was particularly distasteful.

In addition, the Forest Service noted the influence of history on the names of places in Kentucky. While the settlement of the region began before the American Revolution, the population grew dramatically after the Revolutionary War, when many veterans received land grants in reward for military service. During this period of time, place names with British connotations fell out of favor and changes were made. For example, prior to the Revolution, the Kentucky River was called the Louisa River (or Levisa), after the wife of the Duke of Cumberland.

During the 1960s, a new movement to rename the national forest took place. The Kentucky Senate passed a resolution in 1966 urging the Forest Service to change the name to 'Daniel Boone National Forest', and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a proclamation so renaming the forest in 1966.

Also during the 1960s, part of the national forest was designated a Primitive Weapons Area (renamed Pioneer Weapons Area) and set apart for hunting with longbow, crossbow, or muzzle-loading firearms (either flintlock or percussion). In 1970, this was the only US area where deer could legally be hunted with crossbows. The park remains unique still for allowing only muzzle-loaded firearms.

In 1967, a large and disconnected addition to the national forest was created, called the Redbird Purchase Unit, after a key purchase from the Red Bird Timber Company. According to Robert F. Collins of the Forest Service, Thomas R. Frazier (born July 7, 1931; died February 1, 2008) was the first District Ranger of the Redbird Purchase Unit, and is credited as being a major factor in the success of the Redbird land purchasing unit ("A History of the Daniel Boone National Forest", dedication page, 1975).