George Washington National Forest, A History

The George Washington National Forest has its seed in the early years of the conservation movement in the U. S. As the forest reaches toward its ninth decade, it must deal with with an environmental movement that, at times, supports its conservationist past and, at other points, challenges its very principles. The environmental issues faced today are every bit as difficult as the ones faced by the pioneers of American forestry. The early conservationist saw whole mountain sides denuded of trees, rivers clogged with silt and a general lack of public understanding. Miners, timber operators and hunters pushed animal species like elk, whitetailed deer and wild turkey to the brink of extinction here. Some species have never recovered. Today these issues have been supplemented by global warming, ozone depletion and acid rain. As wildlife biologists and botanists work on identifying and studying existing species, a realization is growing that the George Washington National Forest protects species that are found no where else.