Timeline of the Sierra National Forest

The following is a timeline of the history of the Sierra National Forest in Central California, United States.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

19th century

• 1858
  • Galen Clark discovers Nelder Grove.
• 1870
  • The Forest King is cut down in Nelder Grove.
• 1874
  • The California Lumber Company established. ^[1]
• 1891
  • The Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company established.
• 1893
  • President Benjamin Harrison creates Sierra Forest Reserve. ^[2]
• 1897
  • Sheepmen resist grazing control and reserves repeal. ^{[2] : 167}
• 1898
  • Sierra reserves hire first 60 rangers. Gifford Pinchot named chief of United States Division of Forestry. ^{[2] : 167}
• 1899
  • The first timber sale in a California National Forest. ^[3]
  • Betsy became the first logging loocomotive in the southern Sierra Nevada. ^[4]

20th century

• 1901
  • Formation of Bass Lake.
  • The Shaver Lake Railroad opens to haul timber from the woods.
• 1902
  • Charles H. Shinn becomes head ranger of the Sierra Reserves. North Fork headquarters opens.
• 1903
  • President Theodore Roosevelt visits Chiquito Basin and Globe Rock.
• 1907
  • Forest Reserves became national forests; Pinchot toured Stevenson Creek timber sale.
• 1909
  • Fire lookout established on Shuteye Peak. ^[5]
• 1910
  • Big Creek Hydroelectric Project begins. ^{[2] : 167}
  • Bass Lake enlarged to its current dimensions. ^[6]
• 1912
  • The Yosemite Lumber Company constructed the steepest logging incline in history.
• 1913
  • Huntington Lake completed. ^{[2] : 167}
• 1919
  • Southern California Edison buys Shaver Lake, annexes it to the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project. ^{[7] : 15}
• 1922
  • The Madera Sugar Pine Company ends labor contract with Chinese workers, sets fire to Chinatown. ^[8]
  • Mammoth Pool Dam completed.
• 1927
  • Shaver Lake completed.
• 1930
  • Yosemite Lumber Company ceases operations.
  • Bass Lake begins annual Independence Day fireworks display. ^[9]
• 1931
  • The Madera Sugar Pine Company ceases operations.
  • The movie Carnival Boat was filmed at the Sugar Pine Lumber Company in Bass Lake and Central Camp. ^[10]
• 1933
  • The Sugar Pine Lumber Company declares bankruptcy.
• 1940
  • Chinese Peak proposed as a ski area.^: 168
• 1954
  • Lake Thomas A Edison completed.
• 1961
  • Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad begins running tourist trains.
• 1963
  • The Hells Angels begin meeting in Bass Lake for their annual Memorial Day run. ^[11]
• 1964
  • Wilderness Act passes.
  • John Muir Wilderness established.
  • Tehipite Valley transferred to Kings Canyon National Park. ^{[2] : 167}
• 1974
  • Kaiser Wilderness established.
• 1984
  • California Wilderness Act halts Trans-Sierra Highway.
• 1989
  • Sierra Vista Scenic Byway named a national scenic byway.

21st Century

• 2018
  • The Ferguson Fire seriously impacted the recreational areas of the Sierra National Forest.
• 2020
  • The Creek Fire, burning primarily in the Sierra National Forest, became the fifth-largest wildfire in modern California history.

Bibliography

• Rose, Gene (1994). Sierra Centennial: 100 Years of Pioneering on the Sierra National Forest. Three Forests Interpretive Association. ISBN   0-944194-31-1.
• Ben Hurt. "A Sawmill History of the Sierra National Forest 1852-1940" (PDF). Sierra National Forest. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 28, 2024. Retrieved 2024-01-21.

References

1. "The California Lumber Co". Merced County Sun. March 1874. Retrieved August 9, 2022. The object of the company is to supply the San Joaquin Valley with a superior article of lumber at reduced prices. To accomplish this they design sawing the lumber in the great sugar-pine forests of Fresno Flats and floating the lumber down, by means of a flume, to a convenient point upon the railroad for shipping
2. Rose, Gene (1994). Sierra Centennial: 100 Years of Pioneering on the Sierra National Forest. Three Forests Interpretive Association. ISBN   0-944194-31-1.
3. Godfrey, Anthony The Ever-Changing View-A History of the National Forests in California USDA Forest Service Publishers, 2005 p. 92
4. Fresno Flats Historical Village and Park (Museum display). Oakhurst, CA: Madera County Historical Society. 2022.
5. "Fire Station Proves Valuable". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Vol. 55, no. 240. 9 October 1909.
6. Ritzman, David; Makdisi, Faiz; de Larios, Joseph; Sun, Joseph; Ahlgren, Charles (May 2, 2013). "Seismic Retrofit of Crane Valley Dam". Missouri University of Science and Technology. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
7. Johnston, Hank (1997). The Whistles Blow No More. Stauffer Publishing. ISBN   0-87046-067-6.
8. "Sugar Pine's Chinatown had its revenge". The Madera Tribune. August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
9. "Spectacular Display". Madera Tribune. Vol. 74, no. 37. 7 July 1965. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
10. "Life in a Lumber Camp". The New York Times. New York Times. 21 March 1932. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
11. Thompson, Hunter S. (1966). Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.