The Roosevelt National Forest is a National Forest located in north central

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. It is contiguous with the Colorado State Forest as well as the

Arapaho National Forest Arapaho National Forest is a National Forest located in north-central Colorado, United States. The region is managed jointly with the Roosevelt National Forest and the Pawnee National Grassland from the United States Forest Service office in ...

and the

Routt National Forest Routt may refer to: ;Places In the United States: * Routt, Louisville, Kentucky *Routt County, Colorado ;People *Joe Routt *John Long Routt *Stanford Routt Stanford Bermond Routt (born July 26, 1983) is a former American football cornerback. Aft ...

. The forest is administered jointly with the

and the

Pawnee National Grassland Pawnee National Grassland is a United States National Grassland located in northeastern Colorado on the Colorado Eastern Plains. The grassland is located in the South Platte River basin in remote northern and extreme northeastern Weld County be ...

from offices in

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, and is denoted by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

as ARP (Arapaho, Roosevelt, Pawnee). The forest encompasses a mountainous area of the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

on the eastern side of the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

of the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountere ...

Larimer County Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins. The county was named for William Larimer, Jr., the founder of Denver. ...

and

Boulder County Boulder County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado of the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 330,758. The most populous municipality in the county and the county seat is Boulder. Boulder County comprises th ...

. In Larimer County it includes the upper valleys of the

Cache la Poudre The Cache la Poudre River ( ), also known as the Poudre River, is a river in the state of Colorado in the United States. Name The name of the river () is a corruption of the original Cache à la Poudre, or "cache of powder". It refers to an ...

and

Big Thompson River The Big Thompson River is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately 78 miles (123 km) long, in the U.S. state of Colorado. Originating in Forest Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park, the river flows into Lake Estes in the town ...

s. It includes forested areas along both sides of the

Poudre Canyon The Poudre Canyon is a narrow verdant canyon, approximately 40 mi (64 km) long, on the upper Cache la Poudre River (called the "Poudre" for short, which locals pronounce as "Pooder") in Larimer County, Colorado in the United States. The ...

and along the north and east sides of

Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is an American national park located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and ...

. Smaller parts of the forest also extend into northern Gilpin and extreme northwestern

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

counties.

The Roosevelt National Forest is divided into two

ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

districts, the Canyon Lakes Ranger District, with offices in Fort Collins, and the Boulder Ranger District, with offices in Boulder. The Roosevelt National Forest began on May 22, 1902 as part of the Medicine Bow Forest Reserve. It was renamed the Colorado National Forest in 1910, and was renamed to honor President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

in 1932. The forest has a total area of 813,799

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s (1,271.56 sq mi, or 3,293.33 km²).Table 6 - NFS Acreage by State, Congressional District and County
-

- September 30, 2007 Several volunteer groups work with the US Forest Service to help manage the Roosevelt National Forest, including the Poudre Wilderness Volunteers.

Wilderness areas

There are six officially designated

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

s lying within Roosevelt National Forest that are part of the

National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...

. Four of them extend into neighboring National Forests, and one of these also onto

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

land (as indicated). *

Cache La Poudre Wilderness The Cache la Poudre Wilderness is federally-protected area administered by the U.S. Forest Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is located on the Canyon Lakes Ranger District on the Roosevelt National Forest in Colorado ...

, 14.47 square miles * Comanche Peak Wilderness, 104.4 square miles *

Indian Peaks Wilderness The Indian Peaks Wilderness is a wilderness area in north central Colorado managed jointly by the United States Forest Service and the National Park Service within the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and small parts of the southern sectio ...

, 119.9 square miles (mostly in Arapaho NF; partly in

) *

James Peak Wilderness The James Peak Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area in north central Colorado in the Arapaho and Roosevelt national forests. The wilderness area borders Indian Peaks Wilderness to the north and the James Peak Protection Area to the west. Geograp ...

, 26.59 square miles (partly in Arapaho NF) * Neota Wilderness, 15.51 square miles (partly in Routt NF) * Rawah Wilderness, 119.4 square miles (partly in Routt NF)

References

External links

Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland
(United States Forest Service) {{Authority control * https://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/cs/main/!ut/p/z0/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfIjo8zijQwgwNHCwN_DI8zPwBcqYKBfkO2oCADIwpjI/?pname=Arapaho%2F&ss=110210&pnavid=null&navid=091000000000000&ttype=main& National Forests of Colorado National Forests of the Rocky Mountains Protected areas of Boulder County, Colorado Protected areas of Gilpin County, Colorado Protected areas of Larimer County, Colorado Protected areas established in 1897

Wilderness areas

See also

References

External links