How Many National Forests Does Idaho Have?
Idaho has 13 national forests, or 14 if the one forest shared with Montana is included. These forests provide a large amount of tourism and recreational opportunities, and habitat for wildlife. The national forests also generate political controversy between environmentalists who want all the wild land to remain pristine, and others who prefer to see some amount of logging, mining and controlled burning.
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Identification
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Idaho has 21 million acres of wilderness in the two-thirds of the state's land that is held as national forest. These forests include: Boise, Caribou, Challis, Clearwater, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Panhandle, Kaniksu, Nez Perce, Payette, Salmon, Sawtooth, St. Joe and Targhee. The Bitterroot National Forest sometimes appears on lists of Idaho forests as well, as it occupies land in both Idaho and Montana.
Geography
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A total of 9.3 million acres of these forests are roadless areas, which gives Idaho more acres of roadless land than any other state besides Alaska. Idaho has more national forest land than any state other than Alaska and California. Montana and Oregon are fourth and fifth in amount of acreage held as national forest land.
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Function
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The national forests provide superb tourism opportunities for camping, backpacking and hiking, whitewater rafting, trail rides, mountain climbing, snowmobiling, skiing, photography and scenic viewing. Hunting is a popular recreational activity here also, with abundant waterfowl, grouse, turkeys and deer. Successful big game hunting for elk typically involves backcountry camping. Trout fishing is also ranked as some of the best in the nation.
Misconceptions
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Idaho's fame for potato production gives people from other areas the impression that the state is flat, when in reality the upper two-thirds of the topography is quite mountainous. Most of the national forest area is in that upper two-thirds of the state.
Considerations
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Human activity in Idaho's national forests is a continuous political controversy. One faction calls for logging and mining of natural resources, and advocates controlled burns and small areas of clearcutting that they declare are healthy for the forests and thus for the wildlife. Another faction works to keep roadless areas wild, and to eliminate any logging, mining or controlled burning in the forests.
With the many political issues going on in the United States in 2008, little media attention was devoted to an unlikely combination of Republican politicians, environmental group members, hunters and fishermen, who showed support for keeping a large amount of Idaho's forest land roadless. In August, the state and the federal government agreed on regulations to protect 9.3 million acres that former President Clinton had designated as roadless. A total of 3.3 million acres would remain completely roadless, with 5.6 million having allowances for logging in areas where fires might affect communities. Only 400,000 acres would be open to further development.
Some wilderness environmental groups have voiced opposition to the plan.
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