Bitterroot National Forest

Bitterroot National Forest
IUCN category VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources)
Trapper Peak in Bitterroot National Forest

Location	Ravalli / Missoula counties, Montana; Idaho County, Idaho, United States
Nearest city	Missoula, MT
Coordinates	46°13′58″N 113°57′49″W / 46.23278°N 113.96361°W / 46.23278; -113.96361Coordinates: 46°13′58″N 113°57′49″W / 46.23278°N 113.96361°W / 46.23278; -113.96361
Area	1,587,070 acres (6,422.64 km²)
Established	1898
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service
http://www.fs.usda.gov/bitterroot

Wildfire in the forest as photographed on August 6, 2000.

Bitterroot National Forest comprises 1.587 million acres (6,423 km²) in west-central Montana and eastern Idaho, of the United States. It is located primarily in Ravalli County, Montana (70.26% of the forest), but also has acreage in Idaho County, Idaho (29.24%), and Missoula County, Montana (0.49%).^[1]

Founded in 1898, the forest is located in the Bitterroot and Sapphire Mountains with elevations ranging from 2,200 feet (650 m) along the Salmon River in Idaho to 10,157 foot (3,100 m) Trapper Peak. Roughly half the forest (743,000 acres, 3,000 km²) make up part or all of three distinct Wilderness areas. These areas include the Anaconda-Pintler, Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church River of No Return Wildernesses. The distinction is that in wilderness areas, no roads, logging, mining or other construction is permitted and all access must be done either on foot or horseback; even bicycles are not permitted. Hunting, however is allowed forest-wide including wilderness areas.

History

An overview map of Bitterroot National Forest with ranger districts and surrounding forests labelled

A map of Bitterroot National Forest

The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed through parts of what are now forest lands in 1805. After the discovery of gold in Idaho and then Montana in the 1860s, numerous mining towns were built, some of which today are ghost towns. The Nez Perce National Historic Trail passes through a portion of the forest, following the route of the retreating Nez Perce on their historic path that led from Idaho to north central Montana in 1877. Heavy logging and other resource depletion beginning in the 1880s led conservationists to push for the preservation of the forest.^[2]

The Bitter Root Forest Reserve was established by the General Land Office on March 1, 1898 with 4,147,200 acres (16,783 km²). It was transferred to the U.S. Forest Service in 1906. On July 1, 1908 the name was changed to Bitterroot National Forest, with lands added from Big Hole National Forest and Hell Gate National Forest. Other lands were transferred from Bitterroot to Beaverhead, Clearwater, Nez Perce and Salmon National Forests. On October 29, 1934 part of Selway National Forest was added.^[3]

Composition

The forest is a combination of both grasslands and forested zones. Grazing rights are leased to private landowners in the lower altitudes where grasses and shrublands are dominant. Higher up, Douglas fir, larch, and lodgepole pine slowly give way to Engelmann Spruce and whitebark pine as the altitude increases. Above the treeline at 8,000 feet (2,400 m) the trees abruptly end and alpine flowers and grasses are found. A small grizzly bear population is located in the wilderness zones of the forest with black bear, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, elk and moose found forestwide. An active effort to reintroduce the grizzly bear to the region concluded in 2000 with a plan to release 25 bears into the wilderness zones over a five-year period beginning in 2003.^[4]

There are 1,600 mi (2,500 km) of trails and 18 improved campgrounds within the forest. Outstanding fishing is found in the dozens of rivers and streams and lakes. The forest headquarters is located in Hamilton, Montana. There are local ranger district offices in Darby, Stevensville, and Sula.^[5] The largest nearby city is Missoula, Montana. The scenic Blodgett Canyon is but one of many steep canyons located in the forest. U.S. Highway 93 passes through portions of the forest.

Wilderness areas

There are three officially designated wilderness areas in Bitterroot National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. All of them, however, lie mostly in neighboring National Forests (or in Bureau of Land Management land), as indicated.

Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness (partly in Beaverhead NF, Deerlodge NF)^[6]
Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness (partly in Payette NF, Challis NF, Salmon NF, Boise NF, Nez Perce NF, or on BLM land)^[7]
Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness (partly in Nez Perce NF, Clearwater NF, Lolo NF)^[8]

Unprotected roadless areas

Much of the forest outside of designated wilderness areas is still roadless and undeveloped. In addition to roadless acreage adjacent to designated wildernesses, a large roadless area 164,000 acres in size (as of 1992) and straddling the Montana-Idaho state line exists just west of Lost Trail Pass. This area, named for 9,154' Allan Mountain (in Idaho), lies mostly in Montana and is critical to the migration of wildlife between the wildlands of central Idaho and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.^[9] The Allan Mountain area is a lower-elevation part of the Bitterroot Range that features extensive coniferous forests, steep canyons, and pockets of old-growth ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir.^[9] Within the area is Overwhich Falls, a popular attraction; hiker's gentian (gentianopsis simplex) and primrose monkeyflower (mimulus primuloides), sensitive plants, are found here in wet meadows.^[9] Elk, black bear, mountain goat, pine marten, and pileated woodpecker are residents.^[9] The part of the Allan Mountain area in Idaho lies on the Salmon NF. Much of this area burned in the fires of 2000.

References

↑ Table 6 - NFS Acreage by State, Congressional District, and County, 30 September 2008
↑ Wilderness.net. "Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness". The National Wilderness Preservation System. Retrieved 2006-07-08.
↑ Davis, Richard C. (September 29, 2005). "National Forests of the United States" (pdf). The Forest History Society.
↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Record of Decision and Final Rule for Grizzly Bear Recovery in the Bitterroot". Retrieved 2006-07-08.
↑ USFS Ranger Districts by State
↑ Anaconda Pintler Wilderness acreage breakdown, Wilderness.net
↑ Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness acreage breakdown, Wilderness.net
↑ Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness acreage breakdown, Wilderness.net
1 2 3 4 Wolke, Howie (1992). The Big Outside. New York, NY: Harmony Books. p. 122. ISBN 0-517-58737-8.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bitterroot National Forest.

Bitterroot National Forest - U.S. Forest Service
USGS Gird Point (MT) Topo Map - TopoQuest.com
Bitterroot National Forest Recreation

Protected areas of Montana

Federal

National Parks	Glacier Yellowstone

National Monuments	Little Bighorn Battlefield Pompeys Pillar (BLM) Upper Missouri River Breaks (BLM)

National Battlefield	Big Hole

National Historical Parks & Historic Sites	Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS Nez Perce NHP

National Historic & Scenic Trails	Lewis and Clark NHT Nez Perce NHT Continental Divide NST Pacific Northwest NST

National Recreation Area	Bighorn Canyon

National Wildlife Refuges	Benton Lake Black Coulee Bowdoin Charles M. Russell Creedman Coulee Hailstone Halfbreed Lake Hewitt Lake Lake Mason Lake Thibadeau Lamesteer Lee Metcalf Lost Trail Medicine Lake National Bison Range Ninepipe Pablo Red Rock Lakes Swan River UL Bend War Horse

National Forests	Beaverhead Bitterroot Custer Flathead Gallatin Helena Kootenai Lewis and Clark Lolo

National Wilderness	Absaroka-Beartooth Anaconda-Pintler Bear Trap Canyon Bob Marshall Cabinet Mountains Gates of the Mountains Great Bear Lee Metcalf Medicine Lake Mission Mountains Rattlesnake Red Rock Lakes Scapegoat Selway-Bitterroot UL Bend Welcome Creek

National Wild & Scenic Rivers	Flathead Missouri

State

State Parks	Ackley Lake Anaconda Smoke Stack Bannack Beaverhead Rock Beavertail Hill Big Arm Black Sandy Brush Lake Camp Baker Chief Plenty Coups Clark's Lookout Cooney Council Grove Eden Bridge Elkhorn Finley First Peoples Buffalo Jump Fort Owen Frenchtown Pond Giant Springs Granite Ghost Town Greycliff Prairie Dog Town Hell Creek Lake Elmo Lake Mary Ronan Lewis and Clark Logan Lone Pine Lost Creek Madison Buffalo Jump Makoshika Medicine Rocks Missouri Headwaters Painted Rocks Parker Homestead Pictograph Cave Pirogue Island Placid Lake Rosebud Battlefield Salmon Lake Sluice Boxes Smith River Spring Meadow Lake Thompson Falls Tongue River Reservoir Tower Rock Travelers' Rest Wayfarers West Shore Whitefish Lake Wild Horse Island Yellow Bay

State Forests	Clearwater Coal Creek Lincoln Lubrecht Experimental Forest Stillwater Sula Swan River Thompson River

Wildlife Management Areas	Amelia Island Aunt Molly Badlands Beartooth Beckman Big Lake Blackfoot-Clearwater Blackleaf Blue Eyed Nellie Bowdoin Buffalo Head Park Bull River Calf Creek Canyon Creek Canyon Ferry Dodson Creek Dodson Dam Dome Mountain Ear Mountain Elk Island F Island Flathead Lake Flathead River Fleecer Mountain Fox Lake Freezout Lake Fresno Reservoir Fresno Tailwater Gallatin Garrity Mountain Grant Marsh Gravelly-Blacktail Haymaker Hinsdale Horseshoe Lake Howard Valley Isaac Homestead Judith River Kootenai/Falls Kootenai/West Kootenai/Woods Ranch Lake Helena Lost Creek Lower Stillwater Lake Madison-Bear Creek Madison-Wall Creek Milk River Mount Haggin Mount Jumbo Mount Silcox Nevada Lake Ninepipe North Swan Valley CE Pablo Ray Kuhns Robb-Ledford Rookery Roundhom Sanders Seven Sisters Silver Gate Silver Run Smith River Sun River Swan Lake Thompson-Fisher CE Three Mile Threemile Vandalia War Dance Island Warm Springs

Protected areas of Idaho

Federal

National Parks	Yellowstone

National Historic Sites & Historical Parks	Minidoka NHS Nez Perce NHP

National Monuments	Craters of the Moon Hagerman Fossil Beds

National Forests	Bitterroot Boise Caribou-Targhee Clearwater Coeur d'Alene Idaho Panhandle Kaniksu Kootenai Nez Perce Payette Salmon-Challis Sawtooth St. Joe Wallowa–Whitman Wasatch-Cache

National Grasslands	Curlew

National Recreation Areas	Hells Canyon Sawtooth

National Wildlife Refuges	Bear Lake Camas Deer Flat Grays Lake Kootenai Minidoka Oxford Slough Waterfowl Production Area

National Conservation Areas	Snake River Birds of Prey

Wilderness Areas	Big Jacks Creek Bruneau–Jarbidge Rivers Craters of the Moon Frank Church–River of No Return Gospel Hump Hells Canyon Hemingway–Boulders Jim McClure–Jerry Peak Little Jacks Creek North Fork Owyhee Owyhee River Pole Creek Sawtooth Selway-Bitterroot White Clouds

State

State Parks	Bear Lake Bruneau Dunes Castle Rocks City of Rocks Coeur d'Alene Parkway Dworshak Eagle Island Farragut Harriman Hells Gate Henrys Lake Heyburn Lake Cascade Lake Walcott Land of the Yankee Fork Lucky Peak Massacre Rocks McCroskey Old Mission Ponderosa Priest Lake Round Lake Thousand Springs Three Island Crossing Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes Winchester Lake

Wildlife Management Areas	Big Cottonwood Billingsley Creek Blackfoot River Boise River Boundary Creek Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Carey Lake Cartier Slough Cecil D. Andrus C.J. Strike Coeur d'Alene River Craig Mountain Deer Parks Farragut Fort Boise Georgetown Summit Hagerman Market Lake McArthur Lake Montour Montpelier Mud Lake Niagara Springs Payette River Pend Oreille Portneuf Red River St. Maries Sand Creek Snow Peak Sterling Tex Creek

Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation (website)

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