Sawtooth National Forest - Forest History

Forest History

The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 gave the President the authority to establish forest reserves in the U.S. Department of the Interior. After passage of the Transfer Act of 1905, forest reserves became part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the newly created U.S. Forest Service. Sawtooth National Forest was created as the Sawtooth Forest Reserve in the Department of Agriculture by proclamation of President Theodore Roosevelt on May 29, 1905. The forest's initial area was 1,947,520 acres (788,130 ha), and it was named after the Sawtooth Mountains in the northwestern part of the forest. On November 6, 1906, President Roosevelt announced the addition of 1,392,640 acres (563,580 ha) to the Sawtooth Forest Reserve, which then also constituted much of the present-day Salmon-Challis and Boise National Forests. These lands were split into separate National Forests by executive order on June 26 and July 1, 1908. The forest's area underwent a number of smaller changes in the early 20th century. The Fairfield Ranger District was established in 1906 and merged with the Shake Creek Ranger District in 1972 to form the present-day Fairfield District. The Cassia Forest Reserve was established on June 12, 1905 and the Raft River Forest Reserve on November 5, 1906. The names of the forest reserves were changed to national forests on March 4, 1907. Formed from the consolidation of Cassia and Raft River National Forests, the Minidoka National Forest was created on July 1, 1908 and then added to Sawtooth National Forest on July 1, 1953.

In 1936, Democratic U.S. Senator from Idaho James P. Pope introduced the first legislation to establish a national park in the Sawtooths. Under Pope's proposal, the park would have been approximately 30 mi (48 km) long and 8 to 15 mi (13 to 24 km) wide. The rest of Idaho's congressional delegation did not support the proposal, which occurred at a time when the National Park Service was taking a more preservation-oriented stance, and the bill died. On October 12, 1937, the Forest Service established the Sawtooth Primitive Area in the Sawtooth Mountains. Subsequently, Sawtooth National Forest began to extensively develop recreation opportunities, including new campgrounds, trails, and roads.

In 1960, Democrat Frank Church, a U.S. Senator from Idaho, first introduced legislation for a feasibility study to survey the area for national park status. While Church allowed the 1960 feasibility study legislation to die, he introduced a bill in 1963 to create Sawtooth Wilderness National Park, which would primarily encompass the existing Sawtooth Primitive Area. Although the 1963 bill also was not voted on, Church admitted that it was not designed to pass but rather to encourage thorough feasibility studies by both the Forest Service and National Park Service. A 1965 joint report by the two agencies recommended either a national park administered by the National Park Service or a national recreation area managed by the Forest Service. In April 1966, Church introduced two bills, one to establish Sawtooth National Park and another to establish the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA). The SNRA bill was cosponsored by Republican Leonard B. Jordan, another Senator from Idaho, because it preserved the area while also permitting traditional uses such as logging, hunting, and grazing. However, the legislation was not supported by Idaho's members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1968 the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) discovered a molybdenum deposit at the base of Castle Peak, the highest peak in the White Cloud Mountains. ASARCO filed paperwork with the Forest Service to construct roads and to allow for an open pit mine below Castle Peak to extract the ore. The proposed mine would been 350 ft (110 m) deep, 700 ft (210 m) wide, and 7,000 ft (2,100 m) long. About 20,000 short tons (18,000 t) of material would be processed daily with 99.5 percent being deposited in waste piles and settling ponds. ASARCO estimated that the mine would create 350 jobs and $1 million in taxes per year, while the roads would open up opportunities for further exploration. The Forest Service would not be able to stop mining and protect the White Cloud Mountains because the General Mining Act of 1872 gave mining rights to anyone who had located a lode or placer. Nationally, opposition to the mine mounted, while in 1970 Republican Idaho Governor Don Samuelson voiced support for the mine, saying that ASARCO was not, "going to tear down mountains. They are only going to dig a hole." He also characterized Castle Peak as, "nothing but sagebrush on one side and scraggly trees on the other." Samuelson lost reelection in 1970 to Cecil D. Andrus, a Democrat and supporter of preserving the forest.

In March 1971, Idaho's congressional delegation, which included Senators Church and Jordan and Republican Representatives James A. McClure and Orval H. Hansen, was finally united and introduced legislation to create the SNRA. On August 22, 1972 Public Law 22-400 establishing the SNRA, covering 756,019 acres (305,950 ha), and banning mining passed both the House of Representatives and Senate and was signed into law by Republican President Richard Nixon. This legislation included the White Cloud and Boulder Mountains as part of the SNRA. The 217,088-acre (87,852 ha) Sawtooth Primitive Area became the Sawtooth Wilderness (also in the SNRA) as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System under the Wilderness Act of 1964. The original bill also authorized $19.8 million for land acquisition and up to $26 million for development. The SNRA was dedicated in a ceremony held on the shores of Redfish Lake on September 1, 1972. The Burley and Twin Falls Ranger Districts of Sawtooth National Forest were consolidated on October 16, 2002 into the Minidoka Ranger District.