Sierra National Forest is a U.S.
national forest located on the western slope of central
Sierra Nevada in
Central California
Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the state, north of Southern California, which includes Los Angeles, and south of Northern California, which includes San Francisco. It includes the northern portion of the S ...
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
Clovis is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. The 2020 population was 120,124. Clovis is located northeast of downtown Fresno, at an elevation of 361 feet (110 m).
History
The city of Clovis began as a freight stop along the ...
. There are local
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 ...
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 km
2) 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
KERN (1180 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Wasco, California, Wasco-Greenacres, California, and serving the Bakersfield metropolitan area. The station is owned by American General ...
on the south and
Mono and
Inyo 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
Inyo and
Toiyabe National Forests; northern portions were used for Yosemite National Park and the
Stanislaus National Forest.
The first timber sale on a California National Forest took place in the Sierra NF 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 1899.
Geography
Sierra National Forest covers, in descending order of forestland area, the eastern portions of
Fresno
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...
,
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
Electra Peak is a mountain, broadly in the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite National Park, if far, from the road. Electra Peak is the 14th highest mountain in Yosemite National Park.
Electra Peak may have been named for a play called ''Electr ...
. 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
A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge.
History
Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and ...
and continues on to
Auberry. From there Sierra National Forest moves on to
North Fork, then west to form a small finger towards
Coarsegold. 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 and
Nelder Grove. Several reservoirs offer fishing and boating, including
Bass Lake,
Shaver Lake,
Wishon Reservoir, and
Courtright Reservoir. There are numerous hiking opportunities in wilderness areas:
Ansel Adams,
John Muir,
Dinkey Lakes,
Kaiser, and
Monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...
. There is also a ski resort,
China Peak, 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
The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...
. Its Ranger District office is located at 57003 Road 225
North Fork, California
North Fork (formerly Brown's and Northfork; Mono wa?ahhpY', "cedar grove") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Madera County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census it had a population of 3,250. It is part of the Ma ...
, 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
The San Joaquin Experimental Range is an ecosystem research experimental area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The range is located in O'Neals, California, outside of the Sierra National Forest about north of Fresno, California. The range ...
which is just outside the forest boundaries. They both fall in the Pacific Southwest Research Station which is based in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...
.
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, or by a lack of trees. The biotic zones include the
foothill woodland zone from (
interior live oak), the lower montane zone from (
Ponderosa pine
''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...
), the upper montane zone from (
lodgepole pine
''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpin ...
/
red fir
''Abies magnifica'', the red fir or silvertip fir, is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high-elevation tree, typically occurring at elevation, though only rare ...
), the
subalpine zone from (
whitebark pine), and the
alpine zone
Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated alpine climate, harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alp ...
from (above the
tree line).
Some of the forest are
old growth
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
, containing lodgepole pine (''Pinus contorta'') and red fir (''Abies magnifica'').
National monument proposal
A campaign to designate the national forest as a
national monument 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 prin ...
initiative. It is opposed by Congressman
Tom McClintock
Thomas Miller McClintock II (; born July 10, 1956) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2009. His district stretches from the Sacramento suburbs to the outer suburbs of Fresno; it includes Yosemite National ...
and the logging industry.
In December 2022, Congressmembers
Jackie Speier and
Jerry McNerney
Gerald Mark McNerney (born June 18, 1951) is an American businessman, politician, and the U.S. representative for , from 2007 until 2023. He is a member of the Democratic Party. His district, numbered as the 11th district until 2013, was bas ...
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 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
Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral.
Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland
*Elect ...
habitat.
See also
*
Railroad Fire
The Railroad Fire was a wildfire that burned in between the communities of Sugar Pine and Fish Camp in the Sierra National Forest in California, United States. The fire was reported on August 29, 2017 and burned before it was fully contained on ...
*
Ferguson Fire
*
Creek Fire
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