The San Bernardino Forest Reserve was established by the
General Land Office
The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department o ...
in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
on February 25, 1893 with in the
San Bernardino Mountains
The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain â ...
. After the transfer of federal forests to the
U.S. 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 in ...
in 1905, it became a
National Forest on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908 the entire forest was combined with
San Gabriel National Forest
San Gabriel National Forest was established as the San Gabriel Forest Reserve (or San Gabriel Timberland Reserve) by the General Land Office in California on December 20, 1892 through a proclamation order by President Benjamin Harrison. With and ...
and
Santa Barbara National Forest to create
Angeles National Forest
The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the United States Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County in southern Calif ...
, and the name was discontinued. On September 30, 1925
San Bernardino National Forest
The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States National Forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernard ...
was re-established from parts of Angeles and
Cleveland National Forest
Cleveland National Forest encompasses 460,000 acres (), mostly of chaparral, with a few riparian areas. A warm dry mediterranean climate prevails over the forest. It is the southernmost U.S. National Forest of California. It is administered by th ...
.
The reserve was the fourth one established in the state and was created on the same day as the Trabuco Canyon Reserve. And, like the other reserves, the San Bernardino Reserve's purpose was the protection of watersheds and water resources. It was bordered by the San Gabriel Reserve on the east at
Cajon Pass
Cajon Pass (; Spanish: ''Puerto del Cajón'' or ''Paso del Cajón'') is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains to the east and the San Gabriel Mountains to the west in Southern California. Created by the movements of the San Andreas ...
and extended over all of the San Bernardino Mountains to the
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...
.
[Godfrey, Anthony ''The Ever-Changing View-A History of the National Forests in California'' USDA Forest Service Publishers, 2005. pp. 40-41]
References
External links
Forest History SocietyListing of the National Forests of the United States and Their Dates
(from Forest History Society
The Forest History Society is an American non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of forest and conservation history."Forest History Society." Echo Project. Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. http://echo.gmu. ...
website) ''Text from Davis, Richard C., ed. Encyclopedia of American Forest and Conservation History. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company for the Forest History Society, 1983. Vol. II, pp. 743-788.''
{{Former National Forests of the United States
Former National Forests of California