Yellowstone National Forest was first 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 ...

on March 30, 1891 as the Yellowstone Park Timber Land Reserve of . On May 22, 1902 it became the Yellowstone Forest Reserve with lands of . The reserve was first suggested by General

Philip Sheridan General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close as ...

in 1882 after a visit to

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

. Sheridan recommended that the park be expanded to the east and to the south. Legislation was introduced by Senator

George Graham Vest George Graham Vest (December 6, 1830August 9, 1904) was a U.S. politician. Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, he was known for his skills in oration and debate. Vest, a lawyer as well as a politician, served as a Missouri Congressman, a Confederate ...

to accomplish this, but it was stalled by local opposition. The

American Forestry Association American Forests is a 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization, established in 1875, and dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy forest ecosystems. The current headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Activities The mission of American ...

took up the cause, preparing legislation that would allow the

United States president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United State ...

to set aside lands as "forest reservations" through an executive order. President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

then proclaimed the reserve, largely following Sheridan's recommendation, on March 30, 1891. Some areas on the northeast portion of the proposed reservation were excluded to allow mining in the headwaters of the Clarks Fork River. The land was, in effect, the first national forest. For the time being, it was placed under the same military administration that applied to Yellowstone Park proper. In 1902 lands were exchanged with the

Teton Forest Reserve Teton National Forest was first established by the General Land Office on February 22, 1897 as the Teton Forest Reserve with . A commission was established in 1896 to plan for a system of national forest reserves, recommending an expansion of the t ...

and the reserve was placed under civilian administration, with the first ranger station in the nation established at Wapiti on the

Shoshone River The Shoshone River is a long river in northern Wyoming in the United States. Its headwaters are in the Absaroka Range in Shoshone National Forest. It ends when it runs into the Big Horn River near Lovell, Wyoming. Cities it runs near or thr ...

. Artist and rancher

Abraham Archibald Anderson Abraham Archibald Anderson (1846 – 1940) was an American artist, rancher and philanthropist. Biography Anderson was born in New Jersey as one of ten children of William Anderson (1814 – 1887), a civil engineer turned Dutch Reformed Churc ...

was named as the first Special Superintendent of Forest Reserves. On January 9, 1903 lands of the first Absaroka and Teton Forest Reserves were added, and on March 4, 1907 it became Yellowstone National Forest. In 1905 all federal forests were transferred 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 ...

. On July 1, 1908 as part of a major reorganization, the forest was divided into Targhee, Teton,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, Bonneville, Absaroka,

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easter ...

and Beartooth

National Forests A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory. Background The precise application of the terms va ...

, and the name was discontinued.

References

External links

Forest History SocietyListing of the National Forests of the United States and Their Dates
(from the

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 Wyoming Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem