White Mountain

                            National Forest Maps 

 Background  
by David Govatski

 The WMNF was formally established by President Woodrow Wilson in 1918. The authorizing legislation was the Weeks Act of March 1, 1911. As a result of the Weeks Act, a National Forest Reservation Commission (NFRC) was created in 1911 to determine the acquisition boundaries. This boundary is called the Proclamation Boundary and specifies where land can be acquired without special rules.  The Proclamation Boundary has changed several times over the years including the elimination of the Mahoosuc Range Purchase Unit in New Hampshire and Maine in 1928.

Approval of the Proclamation Boundary allowed the US Forest Service to begin acquiring land in 1914, even before the White Mountain National Forest  was established   in 1918. Lands were purchased by a team of foresters led by William Logan Hall who, in a little over a year,  purchased a quarter million acres from willing sellers. The first tract acquired under the Weeks Act,  on January 2, 1914 according to the WMNF land status records,  was the E. Bertram Pike Tract, US Tract 59,  consisting of  7,079 acres in Benton, NH.  The next acquisition was US Tract 11 from the Berlin Timber Land Company on January 20, 1914, consisting of 30,296 acres in the Northern Presidential Range, Wild River and Cherry Mountain regions.

 The first WMNF map for the public was issued in 1914 with a  title of White Mountain Region. The maps were then free for the asking. The 1914 map showed the first three large acquisitions including the two previously mentioned and a large tract of land in Bethlehem in the headwaters of the Gale River. The map was black and white and used simple hachure lines to denote topography. Later maps used color, contour lines and illustrations or photos and were printed on both sides.

 Over 30 WMNF maps have been produced by the US Forest Service since the first map came out in 1914. In the early years, maps were updated annually to reflect the rapid changes in public ownership brought about by the Weeks Act. Recreational opportunities such as trails and campgrounds were featured in early editions.  After the Great Hurricane of 1938, the maps in 1939-1942 denoted areas closed to the public because of the high fire danger posed by the hurricane ravaged forest. Later years brought less frequent map products including a large gap from 1942 to 1963. The last WMNF map produced was in 1993. 

David Govatski worked on several national forests including 22 years on the White Mountain National Forest as a forester, silviculturist and fire management officer. He retired in 2005 but continues to volunteer for the WMNF and organizations like ours where he is on the Board of Directors. He lives in Jefferson, NH and can be reached at David.Govatski@gmail.com  

      Clicking on any map will bring up  a larger image.
The type on these maps is small.  In order for viewers  to see the details, we've decided to use larger file sizes, realizing that this will result in slower loading for some viewers.

The maps have been provided through the courtesy of the Evans Map Room at Dartmouth College.  Captions by Dave Govatski.