Governing body U.S. Forest Service Established July 1, 1908 | Area 9,001 km² Nearest city Grangeville | |
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Location Idaho County, Idaho, United States Website Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests Management United States Forest Service Similar Clearwater National Forest, Frank Church–River of No Ret, Rocky Mountains, Lolo National Forest, Boise National Forest | ||
The Nez Perce National Forest is a 2,224,091-acre (9,000.58 km2) United States National Forest located in west-central Idaho. The forest is bounded on the east by the state of Montana, on the north by the Clearwater National Forest, on the west by a portion of the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest and on the south by the Payette National Forest.
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Map of Nez Perce National Forest, Idaho 83549, USA
The mountains in this forest provide wildlife habitat for timber wolf, raccoon, moose, black bear, coyote, cougar, elk, two species of fox, bald eagle, pika, beaver, flammulated owl, pine marten, white-tailed and mule deer, muskrat, river otter, peregrine falcon, mink, marmot, fisher, and mountain goat.
In 2012, Nez Perce National Forest and Clearwater National Forest were administratively combined as Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, with headquarters in Kamiah, Idaho. There are local ranger district offices in Elk City, Grangeville, Kooskia, and White Bird.
Nez Perce was established on July 1, 1908 by the U.S. Forest Service with 1,946,340 acres (7,876.6 km2) from parts of Bitterroot National Forest and Weiser National Forest. On October 29, 1934 part of Selway National Forest was added.
Wilderness areas
There are four officially designated wilderness areas within Nez Perce National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Three of these are partly or mostly in neighboring National Forests (as indicated).