Nebraska National Forest

Nebraska National Forest
IUCN Category VI (Managed Resource Protected Area)
Location	Nebraska, USA
Nearest city	Chadron, NE (Pine Ridge unit)
Coordinates	42°44′46″N 102°54′7″W / 42.74611°N 102.90194°W / 42.74611; -102.90194Coordinates: 42°44′46″N 102°54′7″W / 42.74611°N 102.90194°W / 42.74611; -102.90194
Area	142,000 acres (575 km2)
Established	1902
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service

Nebraska National Forest from the air

Bessey Ranger District

The Nebraska National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The total area of the national forest is 142,000 acres (575 km²).

The national forest comprises two ranger districts. The 90,000-acre (364 km²) Bessey Ranger District is located in the Sandhills of central Nebraska. Encompassing about 63.9% of the forest's total area, it lies in parts of Thomas and Blaine counties. It was established in 1902 by Charles E. Bessey as an experiment to see if forests could be created in treeless areas of the Great Plains for use as a national timber reserve. This effort resulted in a 20,000-acre (80.9 km²) forest, the largest human-planted forest in the United States. Today, the forest's nursery supplies 2.5 to 3 million seedlings per year.

The 52,000 acres (210 km²) Pine Ridge Ranger District is located in the Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska. It contains about 36.1% of the forest's total area, and it lies in part of Dawes and Sioux counties. The native ponderosa forests were added to the National Forest system in the 1950s. The Soldier Creek Wilderness, a federally designated wilderness area, is located in the forest.

The nursery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In descending order of land, the forest lies in parts of Thomas, Dawes, Blaine, and Sioux counties. It is managed by the Forest Service together with Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest and the Buffalo Gap, Fort Pierre, and Oglala National Grasslands from common offices in Chadron, Nebraska. There is a local ranger district office located in Halsey.

History

Nebraska National Forest was established on November 15, 1907 by the consolidation of three smaller forests. The forest was the largest Man-Made forest until the South African city forest Johannesburg was determined to have more trees than the Nebraska National Forest.: Dismal River, Niobrara and North Platte National Forests.^[1]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nebraska National Forest

• Nebraska National Forest