Founded in 1908, the Fremont National Forest was originally protected as the Goose Lake Forest Reserve in 1906. The name was soon changed to Fremont National Forest. It absorbed part of Paulina National Forest on July 19, 1915. In 2002, it was administratively combined with the Winema National Forest as the Fremont–Winema National Forests.[4]
A 1993 Forest Service study estimated that the extent of old growth (economic definition) in the forest was 549,800 acres (222,500 ha),[5] 113,800 acres (46,100 ha) of which were lodgepole pine forests.
Common recreational activities in the Fremont National Forest include hiking, camping, boating, backpacking, horseback riding, mountain biking, skiing, hunting, and fishing. The 50-mile (80 km) Fremont National Recreation Trail runs northwest–southeast between Government Harvey Pass and Cox Pass in the forest.[7]
The Winema National Forest is a national forest in Klamath County on the eastern slopes of the Cascades in south-central Oregon and covers 1,045,548 acres (4,231 km2). The forest borders Crater Lake National Park near the crest of the Cascades and stretches eastward into the Klamath Basin. Near the floor of the basin the forest gives way to vast marshes and meadows associated with Upper Klamath Lake and the Williamson River drainage. To the north and east, extensive stands of ponderosa and lodgepole pine grow on deep pumice and ash that blanketed the area during the eruption of Mount Mazama nearly 7,000 years ago.[4] A 1993 Forest Service study estimated that the extent of old growth (economic definition) in the forest was 711,674 acres (288,004 ha).[5]
There are local ranger district offices located in Chemult, Chiloquin, and Klamath Falls.
History
Founded in 1961, the Winema National Forest was initially protected as the Cascade Range Forest Reserve from 1893 to 1907, when it became the Cascade (South) National Forest. In 1908, it changed to the Mazama National Forest and then Crater Lake National Forest until 1932. The land was part of the Rogue River National Forest from 1932 to 1961, when it was designated the Winema National Forest. It was named after Toby Riddle, a Modoc woman also known as "Winema" who served as a translator for the US Army during the Modoc War of 1872 to 1873. In 2002, it was administratively combined with the Fremont National Forest.[4] The Winema National Forest separately is the third-largest national forest (after the Nez Perce National Forest and the Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest) that is contained entirely within one county.
Klamath Reservation
More than 50 percent of the forest is former Klamath Indian Reservation land. As part of the Indian Termination Policy that began in the 1950s, the United States Congress enacted a few termination acts directed at specific tribes that included the Klamath Tribe. The Klamath Tribe was likely vulnerable to government termination due to factionalism within the tribe that largely resulted from cultural assimilation effects of the previous decades. On the date of the act, a roll was taken of the tribe, locking in those eligible for property rights to tribal land. After this process, the collective land was divided among each individual on the roll and a vote was conducted on whether to withdraw from the tribe, those that remained would have their portion put back into a collective of land.
Given that estimates suggest seventy percent of tribal members would withdraw, selling their land for commercial use, the government and lumber industry became equally concerned with how the increase in Klamath Forest timber would saturate the industry. The act was then amended to put commercial sales into the hands of the Forest Service, who implemented a sustainable yield policy in regards to the former Klamath Forest.
In the end, seventy-seven percent of the tribe voted to withdraw, shrinking the reservation down from 762,000 acres (308,000 ha) to 145,000 acres (57,000 ha).[8] Two purchases by the US government - the first in 1963 of about 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) and the second in 1973 of about 135,000 acres (55,000 ha) - were combined with portions of three other national forests to form the Winema National Forest.
Members of the Klamath tribe reserve specific rights of hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering of forest materials on former reservation land within the Winema National Forest.[4]
Flora and fauna
There are over 300 species of wildlife and fish that occur in this region.[9]
Flora
There are about 925 species of documented vascular plants in the Fremont National Forest.[9] The vascular plants provide food and habitat for mammals, fish, insects and mankind. Management to ensure that all native species maintain healthy populations is a focus of the Forest Service.[9] There are numerous wildflowers and rare species of plants found in the forest.[9]
There are four officially designated wilderness areas within the Fremont–Winema National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Two of these extend into neighboring national forests (as indicated).
