Tonto National Forest
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| Tonto National Forest | |
|---|---|
 | |
  | |
| Location | Gila, Maricopa, Yavapai, and Pinal counties, Arizona, U.S. |
| Nearest city | Payson, Arizona |
| Coordinates | 33°48′N 111°18′W / 33.8°N 111.3°W |
| Area | 2,873,200 acres (11,627 km2) |
| Established | 1905 |
| Visitors | 5,922,000 (in 2005) |
| Governing body | United States Forest Service |
| Website | Tonto National Forest |
The Tonto National Forest, encompassing 2,873,200 acres (1,162,700 ha; 11,627 km2), is the largest of the six
The boundaries of the Tonto National Forest are the
On June 13, 2020, a wildfire ignited in the Tonto Basin area. The Bush Fire, as it was named, burned 193,455 acres, becoming Arizona's fifth largest fire on record. The fire was sufficiently contained by July 1, prompting the Incident Management Team to transition control to the Forest Service, which subsequently conducted a Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) assessment to begin rehabilitation efforts. Investigators determined the fire was human-caused.[5][6]
Wildlife
Many wildlife species inhabit the forest including Colorado desert
]Lakes, rivers and streams
The Tonto National Forest has six notable cold water reservoirs:
- Bartlett Reservoir
- Horseshoe Reservoir
The next four are created by the Salt River chain of dams:
- Saguaro Lake
- Canyon Lake
- Apache Lake
- Theodore Roosevelt Lake
Wilderness areas
There are eight federally designated
- Four Peaks Wilderness
- Hellsgate Wilderness
- Mazatzal Wilderness (partly in Coconino NF)
- Pine Mountain Wilderness (partly in Prescott NF)
- Salome Wilderness
- Salt River Canyon Wilderness
- Sierra Ancha
- Superstition Wilderness
A portion of the Verde Wild and Scenic River also lies within the forest.
History
The Tonto Forest Reserve was established on October 3, 1905 by the
Proposed land transfer to Rio Tinto Group for copper mining
A land swap proposed as a part of the 2015
See also
- Fossil Creek
- List of U.S. National Forests
- Tonto National Monument, a National Park Service unit completely surrounded by Tonto National Forest
- Pinal Mountains
- Shoofly Village Ruin
- OpenStreetMap relation, with boundaries
References
- ^ "Land Areas of the National Forest System" (PDF). U.S. Forest Service. November 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 25, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
- ^ "Tonto National Forest". U.S. Forest Service, Tonto National Forest. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ "Tonto National Forest – History and Development". fs.usda.gov. United States Forest Service. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ USFS Ranger Districts by State, ufwda.org; accessed July 8, 2020.
- ^ "Bush Fire| InciWeb". inciweb.nwcg.gov.
- ^ "Here are the five largest wildfires in Arizona history". ktar.com. 22 June 2020.
- ^ "Wilderness maps". Wilderness.net. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
- ^ Davis, Richard C. (September 29, 2005). "National Forests of the United States" (PDF). The Forest History Society. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 10, 2014.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Toensing, Gale Courey (2014-12-12). "57 Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Urge Senate to Nix Sacred Land Giveaway". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved 2014-12-16.
External links
