The very air we breathe stems from the trees and forests across the American continent. These are the “lungs” of our nation, giving life-sustaining oxygen to all of us. Our national forests have become reservoirs of clean, pristine air, enjoyed by those who come from near and far to escape the urban stench of carbon by-products and fossil fuels consumption. They remain a bulwark against air pollution, long recognized as an environmental necessity and resource that extends well beyond the beautiful vistas the forests offer to the eye.
In a century, these lands encompassed by national forests now number 188,336,179 acres. The federal government established its responsibility for these forests in 1905 through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its newly created U.S. Forest Service. Specially designated “Wilderness Areas” soon followed and became part of the national forests, as a means to expand preservation efforts on a national scale. On June 3, 1924, the first of these was the Gila Wilderness with its 2,658,321 acres, as part of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico (the forest was founded on March 2, 1899).
Looking across forest to mountains and clouds, "In Glacier National Park," Montana.; From the series Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks and Monuments, compiled 1941 - 1942, documenting the period ca. 1933 - 1942.
All but ten states have at least one national forest. Winds and air infuse their names: Bridger-Teton National Forest, found within the Wind River Range (“the winds”) of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming; or Tuskegee National Forest in Alabama, founded in 1959 and whose name calls forth the bravery and sacrifice of the Tuskegee Airmen who served in World War II. Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming is home to Cloud Peak and Cloud Peak Glacier within the Cloud Peak Wilderness area.
Many of these national forests occupy remote wilderness areas with high altitudes, connecting mountainous peaks and ranges, marked by the passage of geological time, continental upheaval, and erosion by wind and water. One of the most expansive of these, Sawtooth National Forest in both Idaho and Utah, encompasses ten such mountain ranges.
(Image 1) "Clouds - White Pass, Kings River Canyon (Proposed as a national park)," California, 1936.; From the series Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks and Monuments, compiled 1941 - 1942, documenting the period ca. 1933 - 1942. (Image 2) Roadway, low horizon, mountains, clouded sky, "Near (Grand) Teton National Park,"; From the series Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks and Monuments, compiled 1941 - 1942, documenting the period ca. 1933 - 1942.
Another is seen in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, with Wheeler Peak the highest vantage in all of New Mexico. To the north, Black Hills National Forrest extends upwards Black Elk Peak, the highest in South Dakota and named in honor of Heȟáka Sápa (1863-1950) a medicine man of the Oglala Sioux also known as Nicholas Black Elk.
To the southeast, lies Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, with Brasstown Bald at 4,784 feet the highest point in Georgia. And to the west, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, which include the volcanic peaks of Mount St. Helens and Mount Baker, respectively, within their domains. Inyo National Forest lies to the south in the Sierra Nevada with Mount Whitney, second only in height to Denali in Alaska.
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Trees tower into the air, and fill the forests with their grandeur and height. Witness Sequoia National Forest in California, home to its namesake as the largest species of tree in the world. Or the world’s tallest pine tree, rising to a height of 268 feet in Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest across Oregon and California.
Trees that stand out across an otherwise flattened landscape stand like sentinels breaking against the horizon, the sight of them filling the otherwise empty air. This is seen in those ponderosa pines first planted in 1903 at the Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest in Nebraska (the forest established in 1971), or other trees planted by Charles E. Bessey in 1902 at the Nebraska National Forest (only 222 square miles in size).
For the denizens of the air, the national forests too serve as home. Lolo National Forest in Montana, and Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee and North Carolina afford a diverse range of bird species numbering over 500 in both locations. Bald eagles and sandhill cranes nest throughout Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota. More bald eagles make their aeries in Angelina National Forest, Texas.
View with rock formation in foreground, "Grand Canyon National Park," Arizona.; From the series Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks and Monuments, compiled 1941 - 1942, documenting the period ca. 1933 - 1942.
And there are those national forests, which are no more. Many were combined with other forests to create new ones (Logan National Forest; Crow Creek National Forest); others were simply renamed, or split apart entirely. The scope of place names fills the air, with a promise of continued stewardship under the U.S. Forest Service on behalf of a grateful nation.
Everyone, yearning to breathe free.
