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.