Tahoe National Forest is a

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

located in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, northwest of

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake i ...

. It includes the peak of

Sierra Buttes Sierra Buttes is an mountain summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Sierra County, California, United States. It is the third-highest point in Sierra County following the north ridge of Mount Lola and Peak 8740. Sierra Buttes a ...

, near Sierra City, which has views of Mount Lassen and

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of , it is the second-highest peak in the Cascad ...

. It is located in parts of six counties: Sierra, Placer,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, Yuba, Plumas and

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...

. The forest has a total area of . Its headquarters is in Nevada City, California. There are local ranger district offices in Camptonville, Foresthill, Sierraville and Truckee. Tahoe National Forest has many natural and man-made resources for the enjoyment of its visitors, including hundreds of lakes and reservoirs (most notably Boca Reservoir), river canyons carving through

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

bedrock, and many miles of trails including a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail. The

National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...

's Granite Chief Wilderness is close by to Tahoe City, where many trails branch out into the Wilderness. The forest also serves as the water supply headwaters for the towns of Lincoln, Auburn and Rocklin.

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...

and

Sparks, Nevada Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. It was founded in 1904, incorporated on March 15, 1905, and is located just east of Reno. The 2020 U.S. Census counted 108,445 residents in the city. It is the fifth most populous city i ...

also receive their water from the Truckee River which runs through both cities on its way to its terminus at Pyramid Lake. It is also home to three wolverines.

Overview

170227-FS-Tahoe-MatthewRhodes (36435719891)

The Forest Reserves were established in 1893 to halt uncontrolled exploitation of its resources. In California, the Sierra Forest Reserve consisted of over . Tahoe was originally established as the Lake Tahoe Forest Reserve on April 13, 1899. The name was changed to Tahoe on October 3, 1905. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

supported the transfer of forest reserves from the U.S. Department of the Interior to the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

's Forest Service in 1905, with Gifford Pinchot as Chief Forester. Thus began the United States National Forest System. In 1908, the Sierra National Forest was divided into five units and as time went on, more divisions, additions, and combinations were worked out so that presently, Tahoe is one of eight national forests along the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. They are, from north to south, Plumas, Tahoe, Eldorado, Toiyabe, Stanislaus,

Inyo Inyo may refer to: Places California * Inyo County, California * Inyo National Forest, USA * The Inyo Mountains * The Mono–Inyo Craters Other uses * Japanese for yin and yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophical concep ...

, Sierra, and Sequoia. The

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

given by James Wilson, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, states: The National Forests are for the purpose of preserving a perpetual supply of timber for home industries, preventing a destruction of forest cover which regulates the flow of streams, and protecting local residents from unfair competition in the use of forest and range. The timber, water, pasture and mineral resources of the national forests are for the use of the people.

Vegetation

A 2002 report estimated nearly of old growth in the Forest. The old growth includes

coast Douglas fir ''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''menziesii'', commonly known as Coast Douglas-fir, Pacific Douglas-fir, Oregon pine, or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer native to western North America from west-central British Columbia, Canada southwar ...

(''Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii''), Ponderosa pine (''Pinus ponderosa''), white fir (''Abies concolor''),

sugar pine ''Pinus lambertiana'' (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree, and has the longest cones of any conifer. The species name ''lambertiana'' was given by the Scottish botanist David Douglas, ...

(''Pinus lambertiana''), California incense cedar (''Calocedrus decurrens''),

California black oak ''Quercus kelloggii'', the California black oak, also known as Kellogg oak, is an oak in the red oak section (genus ''Quercus'', section ''Lobatae'', series ''Agrifoliae''), native to western North America. Although genetically separated from the ...

(''Quercus kelloggii''), lodgepole pine (''Pinus contorta'') and red fir (''Abies magnifica''). A number of species of invasive weeds have been recorded in the Forest, including thistles, knapweeds, mustards, toadflaxes, daisies, brooms, and aquatic.

Placer County Big Trees Grove

Placer County Big Trees Grove is a giant sequoia grove located in the American River watershed of Tahoe National Forest. It is known as a "tiny" giant sequoia grove, and is the northernmost grove of giant sequoias. The grove contains six old growth giant sequoias, two of which are considered "giant" size.Schaffer, Jeffrey P. 1998
The Tahoe Sierra: a natural history guide to 112 hikes in the northern Sierra
Berkeley, California: Wilderness Press, pp. 138-142.

References

External links

Official Tahoe National Forest website

{{Authority control Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada (United States) National Forests of California Lake Tahoe Protected areas of Sierra County, California Protected areas of Placer County, California Protected areas of Nevada County, California Protected areas of Yuba County, California Protected areas of Plumas County, California Protected areas of El Dorado County, California Giant sequoia groves Protected areas established in 1905 1905 establishments in California

Overview

Vegetation

Placer County Big Trees Grove

See also

References

External links