Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a U.S. National Forest
located in southern Washington, USA. With an area of 1.3 million
acres (5300 km²), it extends 116 km along the western slopes of
Cascade Range from Mount Rainier National Park to the Columbia
River. It includes the 110,000 acre (445 km²) Mount St. Helens
National Volcanic Monument, established by Congress in 1982. In
addition, Congressional action since 1964 has established the
following wilderness areas.
Gifford Pinchot National Forest is one of the older national
forests in the United States. Included as part of the Mount Rainier
Forest Reserve in 1897, the area was set aside as the Columbia
National Forest in 1908. It was renamed the Gifford Pinchot
National Forest on June 15, 1949. The forest was named after
Gifford Pinchot, one of the leading figures in the creation of the
national forest system of the United States.[3] In 1985 a
protection program was started. At 338 spots more than 6.000
Culturally modified trees were identified, of which 3.000 are
protected now.
Gifford Pinchot National Forest is located in a mountainous
region approximately between Mount St. Helens in the west, Mount
Adams in the east, White Pass in the north, and the Columbia River
in the south. This region is noted for its complex topography and
volcanic geology. About 65 percent of the forest acreage is located
in Skamania County. In descending order of land area the others are
Lewis, Yakima, Cowlitz, Klickitat, and Clark counties.