Calaveras Big Tree National Forest, in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

, was established in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

on May 11, 1954, with to protect a grove of

Giant Sequoia ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood or Wellingtonia) is a species of coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the la ...

s, although it had been authorized since February 18, 1909.

Combined

Calaveras Big Tree National Forest was the smallest unit in the

United States National Forest In the United States, national forest is a classification of protected and managed federal lands that are largely forest and woodland areas. They are owned collectively by the American people through the federal government and managed by the ...

system, and was administratively combined with the

Stanislaus National Forest Stanislaus National Forest is a National forest (United States), U.S. national forest which manages of land in four counties in the Sierra Nevada in Northern California. It was established on February 22, 1897, making it one of the oldest natio ...

Transfer

In 1990 it was proposed that the federal lands be transferred to the State of California to be included in the adjoining

Calaveras Big Trees State Park Calaveras Big Trees State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving two groves of Sequoiadendron giganteum, giant sequoia trees. Located 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Arnold, California in the middle elevations of the S ...

References

*''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.'' - ''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''

External links

Forest History Society websiteListing of the National Forests of the United States and Their Dates
{{Former National Forests of the United States Former national forests of California History of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Protected areas of Calaveras County, California