Shawnee National Forest
| Shawnee National Forest | |
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IUCN category VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources)
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Garden of the Gods Wilderness in Shawnee National Forest
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| Location | Illinois, USA |
| Nearest city | Harrisburg, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 37°30′N 88°40′W / 37.500°N 88.667°WCoordinates: 37°30′N 88°40′W / 37.500°N 88.667°W |
| Area | 265,616 acres (1,074.91 km2) |
| Established | August 1933 |
| Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
| Website | Shawnee National Forest |
The Shawnee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the Ozark and Shawnee Hills of Southern Illinois, United States. Administered by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, it consists of approximately 280,000 acres (1,100 km²) of federally managed lands. In descending order of land area it is located in parts of Pope, Jackson, Union, Hardin, Alexander, Saline, Gallatin, Johnson, and Massac counties. Forest headquarters are located in Harrisburg, Illinois. There are local ranger district offices in Jonesboro and Vienna. The Shawnee National Forest is also the single largest publicly owned body of land in the state of Illinois.
Designated as the Illini and Shawnee Purchase Units, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared these purchase units to be the Shawnee National Forest in September 1939.
Most of the land added to the Forest in its first decade of existence was exhausted farmland. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the Civilian Conservation Corps planted pine trees to prevent erosion and help rebuild the soil. However, the Forest is also home to many hardwood trees and other plant and animal species characteristic of the region.
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Wikipedia