Sierra National Forest is a U.S.

national forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory. Background The precise application of the terms vary by jurisdiction. For example: * In Australia ...

located on the western slope of central

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

in Central California and bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest is known for its mountain scenery and beautiful lakes. Forest headquarters are located in Clovis, California. There are local ranger district offices in North Fork and Prather.

History

Sierra National Forest was the second National Forest created in California and the largest at the time. It covered over six million acres (24,000 km²) of the Sierra Nevada and was about four times the average area of typical California National Forests. Originally it embraced parts of eight counties from Tuolumne on the north to Kern on the south and Mono and

Inyo Inyo may refer to: Places California * Inyo County, California * Inyo National Forest, USA * The Inyo Mountains * The Mono–Inyo Craters Other uses * Japanese for yin and yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophy, Chinese p ...

on the east. Initially its name was descriptive, but later when the Sierra was divided into different units this was no longer the case. President Harrison proclaimed the Sierra Forest Reserve on February 14, 1893. Four years later the south half became a separate unit and was named Sierra South during the "forest reserves" era. This designation was dropped after the administrative transition to the National Forests on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908, the Sequoia National Forest, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks were established from this south portion of Sierra National Forest. Eastern portions of Sierra National Forest became the

and Toiyabe National Forests; northern portions were used for Yosemite National Park and the

Stanislaus National Forest Stanislaus National Forest is a U.S. National Forest which manages of land in four counties in the Sierra Nevada in Northern California. It was established on February 22, 1897, making it one of the oldest national forests. It was named after t ...

. The first timber sale on a California National Forest took place in the Sierra NF by the General Land Office in 1899.

Geography

Sierra National Forest covers, in descending order of forestland area, the eastern portions of Fresno, Madera, and Mariposa counties, adjacent to the southern part of Yosemite National Park. It includes more than , at altitudes ranging from in elevation. The terrain includes rolling, oak-covered foothills, heavily forested middle elevation slopes and the tundra landscape of the High Sierra.

Boundaries

The forest's boundary starts clockwise at the intersections of the Merced River, Sweetwater Creek and HWY 140, then moves east following the Merced River canyon to the border with Yosemite National Park near El Portal. Then it follows the park's southern boundary until it reaches the Inyo National forest near Electra Peak. From there it travels south to its border with Kings Canyon National Park near Mount Goethe. It follows the park's northern border, then heads south to the Kings River near Deer Canyon. From there it moves down the Kings River canyon east; south of the river is the Sequoia National Forest. When it reaches Pine Flat Lake near Trimmer, it turns north towards Tollhouse and continues on to Auberry. From there Sierra National Forest moves on to North Fork, then west to form a small finger towards

Coarsegold Coarsegold is a census-designated place in Madera County, California, United States. The population was 4,144 at the 2020 census, up from 1,840 in 2010. The Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians, a federally recognized tribe, is headquartered ...

. Finally, the boundary travels north to Yosemite Forks and moves west towards Miami Mountain, then heads north to return to the Merced River.

Recreation

The forest includes a number of scenic attractions, including

Fresno Dome Fresno Dome is a dominant granite dome rising in isolation above the forest of Soquel Meadow in the Sierra National Forest in Madera County, California. The dome as known to the Mono Indians as "the greeting place" ("wah-me-yelo"). John Muir enco ...

and Nelder Grove. Several reservoirs offer fishing and boating, including Bass Lake, Shaver Lake,

Wishon Reservoir Wishon Dam (National ID # CA00411) is a dam in Fresno County, California in the Sierra National Forest, in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. It impounds the North Fork Kings River to form Wishon Reservoir. The earthen and rockfill gravity dam was ...

, and

Courtright Reservoir Courtright Reservoir is a reservoir in Fresno County, California. The reservoir is at an elevation of 8,170 feet (2,490 m) in the Sierra National Forest, in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, bordering the John Muir Wilderness and the Dinkey Lakes W ...

. There are numerous hiking opportunities in wilderness areas:

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advoca ...

, John Muir, Dinkey Lakes,

Kaiser ''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...

, and Monarch. There is also a ski resort,

China Peak China Peak, previously known as Sierra Summit, is a ski area in Central California, near Fresno. It opened in 1958, named after the mountain, Chinese Peak. Location and terrain China Peak is located on the south shore of Huntington Lake, abou ...

, that operates under a special use permit. Great sailing opportunities exist at Huntington Lake.

Administration

The Sierra National Forest is located within the Pacific Southwest region of the US Forest Service. The forest is divided into three ranger districts: Bass Lake Ranger District is north and west of the San Joaquin River. Its Ranger District office is located at 57003 Road 225 North Fork, California, 93643. The district includes 36 camp sites, 17 picnic sites, 7 Off Highway Vehicle Trails, and 10 trails. It includes the Forest Service Offices of Oakhurst (40343 Hwy 41, Oakhurst, California 93644), and the Clover Meadow Wilderness Office. High Sierra Ranger District is south and east of the San Joaquin River; it has its Ranger District office out of 29688 Auberry Rd P.O. Box 559 Prather, California 93651. This district contains 30 camp sites, 11 picnic sites, and 13 Off Highway Vehicle Trails. It also includes the following Forest Service Offices; the High Sierra visitor information station near Mono Hot Springs on the Kaiser Pass Road, Eastwood visitor information center at Hwy 168 and Kaiser Pass Road at Huntington Lake, Dinkey Creek visitor information center on Dinkey Creek Road near the Dinkey Creek Campground, Supervisor's Office (an administrative Unit) contains the Sierra National Forest Supervisor's office (1600 Tollhouse Rd Clovis, California, 93611); the Yosemite Sierra Visitor Bureau (40343 Highway 41, Oakhurst, California 93644); and the Fresno Air Attack Base which is co-located with the Sierra National Forest Emergency Communications Center (2307 and 2309 N Clovis Ave, Fresno, California 93727) at Fresno Yosemite International Airport. In addition, the forest has a close relationship with the Teakettle Experimental Forest which is deep inside the forest and the San Joaquin Experimental Range which is just outside the forest boundaries. They both fall in the Pacific Southwest Research Station which is based in Berkeley, California.

Ecology

The ecology of the National Forest is typical for the western side of the southern Sierra Nevada: distributions of species are largely governed by climate, which is strongly dependent on altitude. The ecology can be described by biotic zones, which are marked by either a tree

indicator species A bioindicator is any species (an indicator species) or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example, copepods and other sma ...

, or by a lack of trees. The biotic zones include the

foothill woodland zone Foothill woodland is a California vegetation type characterized by an overstory of broadleaf and coniferous trees, generally found in areas of higher elevations and more precipitation than grasslands and oak savannah, and at lower elevations and le ...

from ( interior live oak), the lower montane zone from ( Ponderosa pine), the upper montane zone from ( lodgepole pine/ red fir), the

subalpine zone Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

from ( whitebark pine), and the alpine zone from (above the tree line). Some of the forest are old growth, containing lodgepole pine (''Pinus contorta'') and red fir (''Abies magnifica'').

National monument proposal

A campaign to designate the national forest as a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

was begun in 2015. The proposal for the Range of Light National Monument would prevent new mining operations and phase out logging and grazing, resulting in a continuous protected area linking Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon national parks. Former Sequoia National Park ranger Deanna Lynn Wulff founded the organization Unite the Parks to campaign for the monument's establishment. The proposal has been endorsed by numerous local businesses and organizations, a group of 200 scientists, the California Democratic Party, Democratic National Committee, Sierra Club, and the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks. The protection of old-growth trees would contribute to the

30 by 30 30 by 30 (or 30x30) is a worldwide initiative for governments to designate 30% of Earth's land and ocean area as protected areas by 2030. The target was proposed by a 2019 article in ''Science Advances'' "A Global Deal for Nature: Guiding pri ...

initiative. It is opposed by Congressman Tom McClintock and the logging industry. In December 2022, Congressmembers

Jackie Speier Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier ( ; born May 14, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving in Congress since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 12th Distr ...

and Jerry McNerney introduced a bill that would establish Range of Light National Monument comprising the entirety of Sierra National Forest and the San Joaquin Gorge managed by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

. The new national monument would be administered by the National Park Service, which would manage land for conservation rather than multiple-use. Unite the Parks has also led a lawsuit to prevent logging in fisher habitat.

References

External links

USDA Forest Service: Sierra National Forest website
{{Authority control Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada (United States) National Forests of California Protected areas of Fresno County, California Protected areas of Madera County, California Protected areas of Mariposa County, California Protected areas established in 1893 1893 establishments in California