Daniel Boone National Forest
| Daniel Boone National Forest | |
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IUCN category VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources)
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View from Tater Knob in the Daniel Boone National Forest
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| Location | Kentucky, USA |
| Nearest city | Winchester, Kentucky |
| Coordinates | 37°17′17″N 83°52′31″W / 37.28806°N 83.87528°WCoordinates: 37°17′17″N 83°52′31″W / 37.28806°N 83.87528°W |
| Area | 2,100,000 acres (8,500 km2)(proclamation boundary); 706,000 acres (286,000 ha) (Forest Service) |
| Established | February 23, 1937 |
| Visitors | 2,507,000 (in 2004) |
| Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
| Website | Daniel Boone National Forest |
Daniel Boone National Forest is the only national forest completely within the boundary of Kentucky. Established in 1937, it was originally named the Cumberland National Forest, after the core region called the Cumberland Purchase Unit. About 2,100,000 acres (8,500 km2) are contained within its current proclamation boundary, of which 706,000 acres (2,860 km2) are owned and managed by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (as of April 2006), up from around 620,000 acres (2,500 km2) in the early to mid-1990s.
The forest was named after Daniel Boone, a frontiersman and explorer in the late 18th century who contributed greatly to the exploration and settlement of Kentucky.
In 1937, a national forest was established containing 1,338,214 acres (5,416 km2) within its proclamation boundary. As of June 1937, the Forest Service had purchased only 336,692 acres (1,363 km2). Most early purchases were large, isolated tracts owned by lumber and coal companies with but few inhabitants. The Forest Service has since had difficulty acquiring more land within the proclamation boundary, the bulk of which was, and still remains, small owner-operated farms.
Due in part to World War II, funds for land acquisition were curtailed in the early 1940s. Substantial acquisition efforts could not resume until the mid-1960s. The lengthy cessation of land acquisitions, except for period during the forest's renaming, caused a highly fragmented ownership pattern.
Naming the forest entailed considerable debate. The name 'Daniel Boone National Forest' was advocated by various groups, and was favored by most local leaders in Kentucky, before the area's formal designation as the Cumberland National Forest soon after its inception. Protests began immediately after the national forest was named.
The naming issue was reopened in the late 1950s. The Forest Service investigated the name 'Cumberland', and found it came to Kentucky in 1750 when Thomas Walker named the Cumberland River in honor of Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The Duke had defeated the Scottish Highlanders in 1746 at the Battle of Culloden, an especially brutal conflict. Many Scottish families fled to America and ultimately Kentucky as a result of the event. The Forest Service found that for their descendants still living in Eastern Kentucky, the name 'Cumberland' was particularly distasteful.
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Wikipedia