Custer National Forest is located primarily in the south central part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

but also has separate sections in northwestern

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

. With a total area of , the forest comprises over 10 separate sections. While in the westernmost sections, Custer National Forest is a part of the

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) is one of the last remaining large, nearly intact ecosystems in the northern temperate zone of the Earth. It is located within the northern Rocky Mountains, in areas of northwestern Wyoming, southwestern M ...

, the easternmost sections are a combination of forest "islands" and grasslands. A portion of the forest is also part of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness and constitutes over a third of the wilderness land. South of

Red Lodge, Montana Red Lodge is a city and county seat of Carbon County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,257. History On September 17, 1851, the United States government signed a treaty with the Crow Nation, cedi ...

, the

Beartooth Highway The Beartooth Highway is an All-American Road in the western United States on a section of U.S. Route 212 in Montana and Wyoming between Red Lodge and the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park. It crests at Beartooth Pass in Wyom ...

(U.S. 212) passes through the forest en route 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 Yellowst ...

. The eastern areas are dominated by large stands of

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 ...

surrounded by grasslands, which are often leased to local ranchers for cattle grazing.

Administration

Since 2014, the Custer and

Gallatin National Forest The Gallatin National Forest (now known as the Custer-Gallatin National Forest) is a United States National Forest located in South-West Montana. Most of the Custer-Gallatin goes along the state's southern border, with some of it a part of North- ...

s are managed together as the Custer-Gallatin National Forest with headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. There are local ranger district offices located in Ashland and Red Lodge in Montana, and in Camp Crook in South Dakota for Custer, and West Yellowstone, Livingston, Gardiner, and Bozeman in Montana for Gallatin.

Overview

The western sections have a mixture of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

, spruce and fir trees due to the increased altitude and more abundant rainfall. Higher altitudes deep into the wilderness areas are above timberline and

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

conditions prevail. The tallest mountain in Montana, Granite Peak, is shared with

, as is the interesting Grasshopper Glacier, which has millions of

grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshop ...

that died approximately 300 years ago, entombed within the ice. Within the forest are Native American burial grounds,

pictographs A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and g ...

and

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

. For the plains Indians, the forest provided shelter and a stable food supply. Members of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

are generally considered to be the first white Americans to visit the region. The forest is currently divided into three Ranger Districts: Beartooth in

; Ashland in

Ashland, Montana Ashland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 464 at the 2000 census. Ashland is immediately east of the boundary of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and also along the Tongue R ...

; and Sioux in Camp Crook, South Dakota. Four National Grasslands were formerly managed by the forest as the Grand River, Cedar River, Little Missouri and Sheyenne National Grasslands. These units are now managed as the Dakota Prairie Grasslands, headquartered in Bismarck, ND. There are over 30 vehicle accessible campgrounds in the forest, as well as numerous picnic areas. Over 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trails are available with most being found in the western district. Though not plentiful with rivers and lakes, the waterways do provide some opportunities for fishing but little for boating. The forest headquarters is located in

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

, and most hiking and camping is done in the region south and southwest of Billings. 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 Ashland and Red Lodge in Montana, and in Camp Crook in South Dakota. In descending order of land area the forest is located in parts of Powder River,

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...

, Stillwater,

Rosebud Rosebud may refer to: * Rose bud, the bud of a rose flower Arts * The name of Jerry Garcia's guitar from 1990 until his death in 1995. * In the 1941 film ''Citizen Kane'', the last words of Charles Foster Kane and an overall plot device. * "Ros ...

Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter ...

, Sweet Grass, Harding (the only county in South Dakota), and Park counties. Only about 6.2% of the acreage lies in South Dakota.

Wildlife

A relatively rare type of small

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

known as the merlin is found here in greater concentrations than anywhere else in the United States. Mammalian species of coyote,

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

marmot Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, ...

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

packs, grizzly bear,

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

, bobcat,

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...

, cougar,

mountain goat The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs an ...

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

, elk, and bison.

History

Custer National Forest was established by the U.S. Forest Service as Otter National Forest on March 2, 1907. On July 1, 1908 the name was changed to Custer. On January 13, 1920 the entire Sioux National Forest was added, which now comprises the Sioux Ranger District of Custer, extending into South Dakota. Sioux had previously absorbed

Cave Hills A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea c ...

, Ekalaka, Long Pine, Short Pine and Slim Buttes National Forests on July 1, 1908. On February 17, 1932 Custer absorbed a portion of Beartooth National Forest, which now comprises the Beartooth District.

References

External links