The Shoshone National Forest was set aside by proclamation of President Benjamin Harrison as the Yellowstone Park Timberland Reserve on March 30, 1891. It was the first unit of its kind created after the passage of the Act of March 3, 1891, authorizing the establishment of forest reserves—as national forests were then called—to protect the remaining timber on the public domain from destruction and to insure a regular flow of water in the streams. On the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Shoshone, the national forests embrace approximately 176,000,000 acres of forest land, located in 36 States, Alaska, and Puerto Rico.
The Shoshone National Forest is situated in the heart of the Absaroka Mountains, in northwestern Wyoming. It is bounded on the north by the Montana-Wyoming State line, on the east by the Big Horn Basin, on the south by the Washakie and Teton Forests, and on the west by the Yellowstone National Park. It lies almost entirely within Park County; minor portions extend into Hot Springs and Fremont Counties.
This national forest is the largest of 21 in the Central Rocky Mountain Region, including within its boundaries 1,592,428 acres, of which all but 26,104 are Federal land. The forest is about 75,000 acres larger than the State of Delaware. Elevations within the forest range from 4,600 to 13,140 feet, thus providing a wide variation in climate, vegetation, and wildlife. At the lower elevations the summers are warm and the winters mild. The higher mountains enjoy only a brief cool summer and are snowclad most of the year.
Few mountainous sections are more rugged or spectacular. Geologically the formations are new, and immense areas of exposed rock are broken by and interspersed with mountain meadows and mantles of unbroken forests. Those who have packed into the back country, or have driven through the North Fork of the Shoshone River Canyon, or over the Beartooth Plateau agree that the variety of scenery and vegetative types is superlative.
ADMINISTRATION FOR PUBLIC USE
In the administration of national forests the aim is to manage them in such a way as to make their resources of largest service to the local communities, the State, and the Nation. This is accomplished by promoting the highest social and economic uses of the forests consistent with the proper use of lands. Such an objective is definitely pointed toward the maximum sustained yield from all resources.
The national forests are under the administration of the Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Each forest is under the charge of a forest supervisor. Headquarters of the Shoshone is in Cody, Wyo. Every forest is divided into districts, each of which is under the supervision of a district ranger, who has control of all its activities. His responsibilities include protection of the resources against fire and other enemies, the supervision of timber sales, and the grazing of large numbers of cattle, sheep, and horses; the management of wildlife resources; looking after different permitted uses, such as pastures, summer homes, resorts, power developments; maintaining forest improvements, including ranger station buildings, lookout stations, telephone lines, roads, trails, and range improvements; and providing protection and furnishing information to the thousands of people who come every year to enjoy vacations in the forest.
The Shoshone National Forest is divided into four ranger districts, as follows: The Clarks Fork, the Wapiti, the South Fork, and Greybull. The Greybull is the smallest ranger district, with approximately 300,000 acres. The Clarks Fork is the largest, with about 529,000 acres under the jurisdiction of the district ranger.
HIGHLIGHTS OF EARLY HISTORY
Perhaps nothing contributes more to the real enjoyment and to the fascination of a forest than a knowledge of its early history. Many events within this area played an important part in the growth and development of northwestern Wyoming. Many of these are nearly forgotten, and others are not generally known.