At 3.36 million acres, the Beaverhead-Deerlodge is Montana’s largest national forest. The Forest provides habitat for 355 species of birds, including bald eagles, sandhill cranes, golden eagles, and trumpeter swans, the largest waterfowl in North America. President Theodore Roosevelt signed the legislation creating the two forests in 1908, and they were merged in 1996.
In the original legislation, Deerlodge National Forest was named the Big Hole Forest Reserve. Roosevelt pushed for its protection because the Montana-based Anaconda Copper Mining Co. had begun clear-cutting the upper Big Hole River watershed. The ensuing erosion, along with thick air pollution from the Anaconda smelter, was devastating the region. Ranchers and conservationists alike complained to Roosevelt, who made several trips to the area.
In 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass in the Bitterroot Range, arriving at the headwaters of the Columbia River in what is now Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. At the pass the explorers realized that the dream of a Northwest Passage — a waterway that would cross the Rocky Mountains and connect the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic — would not be realized.
The 158,712-acre Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness Area lies in the Beaverhead portion of the national forest as well as parts of the Bitterroot National Forest. The Beaverhead-Deerlodge includes parts of the Bitterroot, Centennial, Pioneer, Gravelly, Sapphire, Tobacco Root, Flint Creek, Elkhorn, Boulder, and Highland mountain ranges.
The Forest’s ponderosa-pine, fir, spruce and juniper woodlands provide habitat for black bear, grizzly bear, cougar, Canada lynx, elk, mule deer, moose, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, coyote, bald eagle, bull trout, Arctic grayling, and gray wolf. The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail and the Nez Perce National Historical Trail both pass through sections of the Forest, part of a 1,500-mile hiking trail network. Other recreational features include 50 campgrounds, dozens of lake- and river-boating access points, and groomed snowmobile trails.
Photo: Eureka Basin lies on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest near Alder, Montana.
