The National Museum of Forest Service History in Missoula, Montana has just mounted the latest chapter in the series on the Historical Geography, Names, Boundaries and Maps of the U.S. Forest Service, Southern Region.  Previous chapters in this series include six chapters for as many Forest Service Regions in the western United States.  Each Regional chapter, including the newly released Southern Region (Region 8)  provides information on the growth and development of the National Forest System from 1891 to the present for that region of the Forest Service with an administrative history, purchase units, establishment of special areas such as Wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, etc., followed by an examination of the cartographic history of that region.  The heart of the work is the administrative history and cartobibliography of each national forest, both current national forests and those that have been discontinued.  Full map citations with holdings information and OCLC numbers where available are provided.  The cartobibliography has been compiled over the course of 30 years of research conducted in the largest map collections in the country, including the Library of Congress, National Archives, and National Agricultural Library.  Each Regional chapter includes sections on special mapping, a listing of cartographers, and bibliography.

If you would like to discover how complete your library's holdings Forest Service maps, or wish to understand the origin and fate of national forests or what happened to a national forest that has long ago disappeared from maps (Montezuma, Bear Lodge, Kansas National Forests for instance), then you will find this series on the historical geography of the National Forest System important for your work.  Access is free and open.

Point your browser to the Museum's "Learning Library" page