Clearwater National Forest

Clearwater National Forest
Lochsa River Canyon

Location	Idaho, United States
Nearest city	Orofino, ID
Coordinates	46°33′4″N 115°9′37″W / 46.55111°N 115.16028°W / 46.55111; -115.16028
Area	2,612,000 acres (10,570 km²)
Established	July 1, 1908^[1]
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service
Website	Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests

Clearwater National Forest with headquarters on the Nez Perce Reservation at Kamiah is located in North Central Idaho in the northwestern United States. The forest is bounded on the east by the state of Montana, on the north by the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, and on the south and west by the Nez Perce National Forest and Palouse Prairie.

The North Fork of the Clearwater and the Lochsa rivers provide miles of tumbling white water interspersed with quiet pools for migratory and resident fish. The mountains provide a habitat for raccoon, elk, moose, black bear, two species of fox, bald eagle, marten, white-tailed and mule deer, coyote, wolf packs, cougar, boreal owl, river otter, muskrat, beaver, pika, fisher, mink, and mountain goat.

In 2012, Clearwater National Forest and Nez Perce National Forest were administratively combined as Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, with headquarters in Kamiah, Idaho.^[2]

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Features

The forest is 2 million acres (8,100 km²) and contains mountains and river drainage areas. The Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers flow through the forest region. Portions of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness are also located in the forest. In descending order of land area the forest is located in Idaho, Clearwater, and Shoshone counties. Forest Service headquarters are located in Kamiah, Idaho. There are local ranger district offices in Kooskia, Powell (near Lolo, Montana, on the Idaho/Montana state line), Orofino, and Potlatch.^[3] The North Fork Ranger Station & Visitor Center in Orofino is your one-stop-shop for information about the Clearwater and Nez Perce National Forests, as well as Dworshak Dam Visitor Center and Dworshak Reservoir, popular recreation sites just nine miles northwest of Orofino.

The Clearwater National Forest is home to the well-known Jerry Johnson Hot Springs and the smaller Weir Creek Hot Springs. Both springs are accessible via trails from U.S. Highway 12 and are popular tourist attractions, drawing visitors from Idaho and western Montana.

Lewis and Clark travelled through the region in their journey westward in 1805–1804. Upon reaching Lolo Pass at the eastern edge of the forest on September 15, 1805, William Clark was quoted as saying,

From this mountain I could observe high rugged mountains in every direction as far as I could see.

The Clearwater National Forest was established on July 1, 1908, with 2,687,860 acres (10,877.4 km²) from parts of Coeur d'Alene National Forest and Bitterroot National Forest. On October 31, 1934, part of Selway National Forest was added.^[4]

A small part of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness lies within Clearwater National Forest, although the largest portion of the wilderness lies in either the neighboring Nez Perce National Forest, Bitterroot National Forest, or Lolo National Forest.

References

^ Staff. "National Forests". Foresthistory.org. Archived from the original on 8 July 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ "About the Forest". Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
^ "USFS Ranger Districts by State" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-19. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
^ Davis, Richard C. (September 29, 2005), National Forests of the United States (PDF), Forest History Society, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-28

External links

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests

Protected areas of Idaho

Federal

National Parks	Yellowstone
National Historic Sites & Historical Parks	Minidoka NHS Nez Perce NHP
National Monuments	Craters of the Moon Hagerman Fossil Beds
National Forests	Bitterroot Boise Caribou-Targhee Clearwater Coeur d'Alene Idaho Panhandle Kaniksu Kootenai Nez Perce Payette Salmon-Challis Sawtooth St. Joe Wallowa–Whitman Wasatch-Cache
National Grasslands	Curlew
National Recreation Areas	Hells Canyon Sawtooth
National Wildlife Refuges	Bear Lake Camas Deer Flat Grays Lake Kootenai Minidoka Oxford Slough Waterfowl Production Area
National Conservation Areas	Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey
Wilderness Areas	Big Jacks Creek Bruneau–Jarbidge Rivers Craters of the Moon Frank Church–River of No Return Gospel Hump Hells Canyon Hemingway–Boulders Jim McClure–Jerry Peak Little Jacks Creek North Fork Owyhee Owyhee River Pole Creek Sawtooth Selway–Bitterroot Cecil D. Andrus–White Clouds
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Battle Creek Big Jacks Creek Bruneau Bruneau (West Fork) Clearwater (Middle Fork) Cottonwood Creek Deep Creek Dickshooter Creek Duncan Creek Jarbidge Little Jacks Creek Lochsa Owyhee Owyhee (North Fork) Owyhee (South Fork) Rapid Red Canyon Saint Joe Salmon Salmon (Middle Fork) Selway Sheep Creek Snake Wickahoney Creek