The Chattahoochee National Forest is one of the great treasures we have in our backyard. Each year, thousands of visitors come to enjoy it, but the beautiful mountains of today were not that beautiful many years ago.
According to Today in Georgia History, at the turn of the 20th century, the forest had been abused and overused, the victim of hydraulic mining, overcutting, and poor land and wildlife management.
In 1911, the U.S. Forest Service purchased 31,000 acres in Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, and Union counties from the Gennett family for $7 an acre. Georgia’s first forest ranger, Roscoe Nicholson, helped to negotiate the purchase. Nicholson and Ranger Arthur Woody instituted forestry practices for managing timber, wildlife, and recreation resources. The Forest Service managers planted trees, fought wildfires, controlled erosion, and reintroduced deer and fish populations that had been virtually eliminated.
Established by President Franklin Roosevelt on July 9, 1936, the Chattahoochee National Forest now covers around 751,000 acres in 18 counties across North Georgia.
Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia by county:
Banks County – 999 acres
Catoosa County – 14 acres
Chattooga County – 19,383 acres
Dawson County – 6,858 acres
Fannin County – 105,442 acres
Floyd County – 6,625 acres
Gilmer County – 55,712 acres
Gordon County – 8,056 acres
Habersham County – 38,953 acres
Lumpkin County – 57,491 acres
Murray County – 51,616 acres
Rabun County – 148,354 acres
Stephens County – 23,650 acres
Towns County – 57,474 acres
Union County – 97,886 acres
Walker County – 18,952 acres
White County – 41,903 acres
Whitfield County – 11,700 acres
