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| Bitterroot National Forest | |
|---|---|
 Trapper Peak in Bitterroot National Forest | |
  | |
| Location | Ravalli /Missoula counties,Montana;Idaho County,Idaho,United States |
| Nearest city | Missoula, MT |
| Coordinates | 46°13′58″N113°57′49″W / 46.23278°N 113.96361°W /46.23278; -113.96361 |
| Area | 1,587,070 acres (6,422.6 km2) |
| Established | 1898 |
| Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
| Website | Bitterroot National Forest |
Bitterroot National Forest comprises 1.587 million acres (6,423 km2) in west-centralMontana and easternIdaho of theUnited States. It is located primarily inRavalli County, Montana (70.26% of the forest), but also has acreage inIdaho County, Idaho (29.24%), andMissoula County, Montana (0.49%).[1]
Founded in 1898, the forest is located in theBitterroot andSapphire Mountains withelevations ranging from 2,200 feet (650 m) along theSalmon River in Idaho to 10,157 foot (3,100 m) Trapper Peak. Roughly half the forest (743,000 acres, 3,000 km2) make up part or all of three distinctWilderness areas. These areas include theAnaconda–Pintler,Selway–Bitterroot andFrank Church River of No Return Wildernesses. The distinction is that in wilderness areas, noroads,logging,mining or otherconstruction is permitted and all access must be done either on foot orhorseback; evenbicycles are not permitted.Hunting, however is allowed forest-wide including wilderness areas.
TheLewis and Clark Expedition in 1805 passed through parts of future forest lands. After the discovery ofgold in Idaho and then Montana in the 1860s, numerous mining towns were built, some of which dwindled intoghost towns. TheNez Perce National Historic Trail passes through a portion of the forest, following the route of the retreatingNez Perce on their historic path that led from Idaho to north central Montana in 1877. Heavy logging and otherresource depletion beginning in the 1880s ledconservationists to push for the preservation of the forest.[2]
TheBitter Root Forest Reserve was established by theUnited States General Land Office on March 1, 1898, with 4,147,200 acres (16,783 km2). It was transferred to theU.S. Forest Service in 1906. On July 1, 1908, the name was changed to Bitterroot National Forest, with lands added fromBig Hole National Forest andHell Gate National Forest. Other lands were transferred from Bitterroot toBeaverhead,Clearwater,Nez Perce andSalmon National Forests. On October 29, 1934, part ofSelway National Forest was added.[3]
In August 2016,a wildfire burned down fourteen houses.[4]
The forest is home to many species of wildlife species includingmule deer,white-tailed deer,elk,bighorn sheep,mountain goat,gopher, a variety ofchipmunks,beaver,porcupine,woodchuck,rabbits, a variety ofsquirrels,moose,black bear, andcougar in addition to many varieties of birds.
The forest is a combination of bothgrasslands and forested zones.Grazing rights are leased to private landowners in the loweraltitudes where grasses and shrublands are dominant. Higher up,Douglas fir,larch, andlodgepole pine slowly give way toEngelmann Spruce andwhitebark pine as the altitude increases. Above the treeline at 8,000 feet (2,400 m) the trees abruptly end andalpine flowers and grasses are found. A smallgrizzly bear population is located in the wilderness zones of the forest with black bear, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, elk and moose found all over this forest. An active effort to reintroduce the grizzly bear to the region concluded in 2000 with a plan to release 25 bears into the wilderness zones over a five-year period beginning in 2003.[5]
There are 1,600 mi (2,500 km) of trails and 18 improved campgrounds within the forest. Outstanding fishing is found in the dozens of rivers and streams and lakes. The forest headquarters is located inHamilton, Montana. There are localranger district offices inDarby,Stevensville, andSula.[6] The largest nearby city isMissoula, Montana. The scenicBlodgett Canyon is but one of many steep canyons located in the forest. U.S. Highway 93 passes through portions of the forest.
There are three officially designatedwilderness areas in Bitterroot National Forest that are part of theNational Wilderness Preservation System. All of them, however, lie mostly in neighboring National Forests (or inBureau of Land Management land), as indicated.
Much of the forest outside of designated wilderness areas is still roadless and undeveloped. In addition to roadless acreage adjacent to designated wildernesses, a large roadless area 164,000 acres in size (as of 1992) and straddling the Montana–Idaho state line exists just west ofLost Trail Pass. This area, named for 9,154' Allan Mountain (in Idaho), lies mostly in Montana and is critical to the migration of wildlife between the wildlands ofcentral Idaho and theGreater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The Allan Mountain area is a lower-elevation part of theBitterroot Range that features extensive coniferous forests, steep canyons, and pockets ofold-growthponderosa pine and Douglas-fir. Within the area is Overwhich Falls, a popular attraction; hiker's gentian (Gentianopsis simplex) and primrose monkey flower (mimulus primuloides), sensitive plants, are found here in wet meadows. Elk, black bear, mountain goat,pine marten, andpileated woodpecker are residents.[10]
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