Midnight Forests? A Little Trivia for you....

[Falcon]

Gifford Pinchot was the first director of our National Forests. Now this is a bit misleading as there were other men in charge of the nations forests prior to Gifford, but he has the distinction of being in charge when the name was changed from "Forest Reserves" to "National Forests".

 

It seems that just over 100 years ago, our president Teddy Roosevelt and old Gifford pulled a fast one on Congress by establishing what became known as the "Midnight Forests".

 

The short story is that Congress renamed Forest Reserves "National Forests," and outlaws their further creation or enlargement in six Western states (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, or Wyoming). The exception is by act of Congress. When the bill passes Congress on February 25, 1907, Pinchot and Roosevelt identify sixteen million acres of forest in these six states which are designated as national forests before the bill is signed into law on March 4, 1907.

 

March 2, 1907 was a very active day for National Forest creation and expansion. According to http://www.foresthistory.org, more than 20 forests were created, expanded, renamed, and combined.

 

So if you are camping in USDA National Forests in the West, remember that there is a fair chance the place you are standing is protected thanks in part to some underhanded political trickery.

 

And they say all politicians are evil......

[Blackdog]

Yep, and I'm trying to ride through as many as I can 'fore I die.

[firebird77clone]

OR before the all burn down, cause the tree huggers won't allow selective logging