Tahoe National Forest
Encyclopedia
Tahoe National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, northwest of Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...

. It includes the 8587 feet (2,617.3 m) peak of Sierra Buttes, near Sierra City
Sierra City, California
Sierra City is a census-designated place in Sierra County, California, United States. The elevation of Sierra City is , and the town is situated in the canyon of the North Yuba River on California State Route 49, twelve miles northeast of the county seat of Sierra County, Downieville...

, which has views of Mount Lassen and Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...

. It is located in parts of six counties. In descending order of forestland area they are Sierra
Sierra County, California
Sierra County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California, northeast of Sacramento on the border with Nevada. As of the 2010 census the population was 3,240, down from 3,555 at the 2000 census. The county seat is Downieville....

, Placer
Placer County, California
Placer County is a county located in both the Sacramento Valley and Sierra Nevada regions of the U.S. state of California, in what is known as the Gold Country. It stretches from the suburbs of Sacramento to Lake Tahoe and the Nevada border. Because of the expansion of the Greater Sacramento,...

, Nevada
Nevada County, California
Nevada County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of California, in the Mother Lode country. As of 2010 its population was 98,764. The county seat is Nevada City.-History:Nevada County was created in 1851 from parts of Yuba County....

, Yuba
Yuba County, California
Yuba County is a county located in the U.S. state of California's Central Valley, north of Sacramento, along the Feather River. As of the 2010 census, its population was 72,155. The county seat is Marysville. Yuba County is part of the Greater Sacramento area.-History:Yuba County was one of the...

, Plumas
Plumas County, California
Plumas County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. The county gets its name from the Spanish words for the Feather River , which flows through the county. As of the 2010 census, the population 20,007, down from 20,824 at the 2000 census...

, and El Dorado
El Dorado County, California
El Dorado County is a county located in the historic Gold Country in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and foothills of the U.S. state of California. The 2010 population was 181,058. The El Dorado county seat is in Placerville....

 counties. (The El Dorado County portion is very tiny, at only four acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...

s.) The forest has a total area of 871,495 acres (1,361.71 sq mi, or 3,526.82 km2). Its headquarters is in Nevada City, California
Nevada City, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...

. There are local ranger
National Park Ranger
National Park Service Rangers are among the uniformed employees charged with protecting and preserving areas set aside in the National Park System by the United States Congress and/or the President of the United States...

 district offices in Camptonville
Camptonville, California
Camptonville is a small town and census-designated place located in northeastern Yuba County, California. The town is located northeast of Marysville, off Highway 49 between Downieville and Nevada City. It is located on a ridge between the North Fork and Middle Fork of the Yuba River, not far...

, Foresthill
Foresthill, California
Foresthill is a census-designated place in Placer County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, Sierraville
Sierraville, California
Sierraville is a census-designated place in Sierra County, California, United States. It is at the southern end of the huge Sierra Valley which is used primarily as pasture and is also at the junction of California State Route 49 and California State Route 89 southwest of Loyalton. Sierraville has...

, and Truckee
Truckee, California
Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. The population was 16,180 at the 2010 census, up from 13,864 at the 2000 census.-Name:...

.

Tahoe National Forest has many natural and man-made resources for the enjoyment of its visitors, including hundreds of lakes and reservoirs, river canyons carved through granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 bedrock, and many miles of trails including a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail
Pacific Crest Trail
The Pacific Crest Trail is a long-distance mountain hiking and equestrian trail on the Western Seaboard of the United States. The southern terminus is at the California border with Mexico...

.

The forest also serves as the water supply headwaters for the towns of Lincoln
Lincoln, California
Lincoln is a city in Placer County, California, United States located in the metropolitan area of Sacramento. The population was 42,819 at the 2010 census, with a growth rate of 282.1 percent since 2000 , making it the fastest growing city in the U.S...

, Auburn
Auburn, California
Auburn is the county seat of Placer County, California. Its population at the 2010 census was 13,330. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history.Auburn is part of the Greater Sacramento area.- History :...

, Rocklin
Rocklin, California
Rocklin is a city in Placer County, California located in the metropolitan area of Sacramento. It shares borders with Roseville, Loomis, and Lincoln...

, California, and Reno
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...

 and Sparks
Sparks, Nevada
Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States, located east of Reno, Nevada. The 2010 U.S. Census Bureau population count was 90,264. Sparks is often referred to as half of a twin city .-Geography and Climate:...

, Nevada, which receive the water through elaborate canal systems that largely originated during the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

 and Comstock Lode
Comstock Lode
The Comstock Lode was the first major U.S. discovery of silver ore, located under what is now Virginia City, Nevada, on the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range. After the discovery was made public in 1859, prospectors rushed to the area and scrambled to stake their claims...

 eras.

Overview

The Forest Reserves were established in 1893 to halt uncontrolled exploitation.
In California the Sierra Forest Reserve consisted of over 4000000 acres (1,618,744 ha).

President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

 supported the transfer of forest reserves from the Department of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...


to the Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...

's Forest Service in 1905, with Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot was the first Chief of the United States Forest Service and the 28th Governor of Pennsylvania...

 as Chief Forester. Thus began the United States National Forest System.

In 1908, the Sierra National Forest was divided into five units and as time went on, more divisions, additions, and combinations were worked out so that presently, Tahoe is one of eight national forests along the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. (They are, from north to south, Plumas
Plumas National Forest
Plumas National Forest is a 1,146,000-acre United States National Forest located in the Sierra Nevada, in northern California.-Geography:...

, Tahoe, Eldorado
Eldorado National Forest
Eldorado National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the central Sierra Nevada mountain range, in eastern Eldorado National Forest is a [[U.S. National Forest]] located in the central [[Sierra Nevada |Sierra Nevada]] [[mountain range]], in eastern Eldorado National Forest is a [[U.S...

, Toiyabe, Stanislaus
Stanislaus National Forest
Stanislaus National Forest contains in four counties in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California. It was established on February 22, 1897, making it one of the oldest national forests...

, Inyo
Inyo National Forest
Inyo National Forest is a federally administered forest in the United States. The forest covers parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. It contains two wilderness areas: the John Muir Wilderness and the Ansel Adams Wilderness...

, Sierra
Sierra National Forest
Sierra National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located on the western slope of central Sierra Nevada in the state of California. The forest is known for its mountain scenery and natural resources. Forest headquarters are located in Clovis, California...

, and Sequoia
Sequoia National Forest
Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boundaries of the forest....

.)

The charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...

 given by James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture states: The National Forests are for the purpose of preserving a perpetual supply of timber for home industries, preventing a destruction of forest cover which regulates the flow of streams, and protecting local residents from unfair competition in the use of forest and range. The timber,water, pasture and mineral resources of the national forests are for the use of the people.+

Tahoe was originally established as the Lake Tahoe Forest Reserve on April 13, 1899. The name was changed to Tahoe on October 3, 1905.

Vegetation

A 2002 report estimated nearly 84000 acres (339.9 km²) of old growth in the Forest. The old growth includes Coast Douglas-fir
Coast Douglas-fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii, known as Douglas-fir, Oregon Pine, or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer species native to western North America. Its variety Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, also known as coast Douglas-fir grows in the coastal regions, from west-central British Columbia, Canada...

 (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), Ponderosa Pine
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...

 (Pinus ponderosa), White Fir
White Fir
White Fir is a fir native to the mountains of western North America, occurring at altitudes of 900-3,400 m. It is a medium to large evergreen coniferous tree growing to 25–60 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 2 m . It is popular as an ornamental landscaping tree and as a Christmas Tree...

 (Abies concolor), Sugar Pine
Sugar Pine
Pinus lambertiana, commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine, is the tallest and most massive pine, with the longest cones of any conifer...

 (Pinus lambertiana), California Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), California Black Oak
California Black Oak
Quercus kelloggii, the California Black Oak, also known as simply Black Oak, or Kellogg Oak, is an oak in the red oak section , native to western North America...

 (Quercus kelloggii), Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...

 (Pinus contorta), and Red Fir
Red Fir
Abies magnifica, the Red Fir or Silvertip fir, is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high altitude tree, typically occurring at altitude, though only rarely reaching tree line...

 (Abies magnifica).

Groves

Placer County "Big Trees" Grove is a giant sequoia grove located in the American River watershed of Tahoe National Forest. It is known as a "tiny" giant sequoia grove, and is the northern most grove. The grove contains six old growth giant sequoias, two of which are considered "giant" size.

See also


Index: Fauna of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.)

External links

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