Angelina National Forest is a United States National Forest

United States National Forest

National Forest is a classification of federal lands in the United States.National Forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned by the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Land management of these areas...

, one of four located in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. The 153179 acres (619.9 km²) Angelina National Forest is located in East Texas

East Texas

East Texas is a distinct geographic and ecological area in the U.S. state of Texas.According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone...

  in parts of San Augustine

San Augustine County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 8,946 people, 3,575 households, and 2,520 families residing in the county. The population density was 17 people per square mile . There were 5,356 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile...

, Angelina

Angelina County, Texas

Angelina County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. Angelina County was formed in 1846 from Nacogdoches County. As of 2000, the population was 80,130. Its county seat is Lufkin. Angelina is named for a Hainai Native American woman who assisted early Spanish missionaries and was named...

, Jasper and Nacogdoches

Nacogdoches County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 59,203 people, 22,006 households, and 14,039 families residing in the county. The population density was 62 people per square mile . There were 25,051 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...

 counties. It is managed together with the three other National Forests in Texas (Davy Crockett

Davy Crockett National Forest

Davy Crockett National Forest is off U.S. Highway 69 lying west of Lufkin, Texas and east of Crockett. It is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture National Forest Service local headquarters in Lufkin...

, Sabine

Sabine National Forest

Sabine National Forest is located in East Texas near the Texas-Louisiana border. The forest is administered together with the other three United States National Forests and two National Grasslands located entirely in Texas, from common offices in Lufkin, Texas. The units include Angelina, Davy...

, and Sam Houston

Sam Houston National Forest

The Sam Houston National Forest, one of four National Forests in Texas, is located 50 miles north of Houston. The forest is administered together with the other three United States National Forests and two National Grasslands located entirely in Texas, from common offices in Lufkin, Texas...

) from Forest Service offices in Lufkin, Texas

Lufkin, Texas

Lufkin is a city in Angelina County, Texas, United States. Founded in 1882, the population was 35,067 in 2010. It is the county seat of Angelina County, and is situated in Deep East Texas.-History:...

. There are local ranger

National Park Ranger

National Park Service Rangers are among the uniformed employees charged with protecting and preserving areas set aside in the National Park System by the United States Congress and/or the President of the United States...

 district offices located in Zavalla

Zavalla, Texas

Zavalla is a city in Angelina County, Texas, United States. The population was 647 at the 2000 census. The town is named for Lorenzo de Zavala, a Mexican rancher, politician, and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence who served as the first Vice-President of the Republic of...

. The forest lies in the Neches River

Neches River

The Neches River flows for through east Texas to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs, Lake Palestine and B. A. Steinhagen Reservoir are located on the Neches. Several cities are located along the Neches River Basin, including Evadale, Tyler, Lufkin, Silsbee,...

 Basin and on the north and south shores of Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Sam Rayburn Reservoir is a reservoir in the United States located in Southeast Texas, north of Beaumont. The reservoir is fed by the Angelina River, the major tributary of the Neches River. The capacity of the reservoir is , and is the largest lake wholly located within the state of Texas...

. Longleaf Pine

Longleaf Pine

Pinus palustris, commonly known as the Longleaf Pine, is a pine native to the southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from eastern Texas to southeast Virginia extending into northern and central Florida....

 is the predominant cover type in the southern portion of the forest, while Loblolly

Loblolly Pine

Pinus taeda is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from central Texas east to Florida, and north to Delaware. It is particularly dominant in the eastern half of North Carolina, where there are huge expanses consisting solely of Loblolly Pine trees...

 and Shortleaf Pine

Shortleaf Pine

Pinus echinata is a species of pine native to the eastern United States from southern New York south to northern Florida, west to the extreme southeast of Kansas, and southwest to eastern Texas. The tree is variable in form, sometimes straight, sometimes crooked, with an irregular crown...

 are the dominant species in the northern portion. Hundreds of wildlife species exist in the forest. Principal game in the is deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, squirrel

Squirrel

Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...

, wild turkey

Wild Turkey

The Wild Turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which derives from the South Mexican subspecies of wild turkey .Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green...

, woodcock

Woodcock

The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus Scolopax. Only two woodcocks are widespread, the others being localized island endemics. Most are found in the Northern Hemisphere but a few range into Wallacea...

, quail

Quail

Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally considered in the order Galliformes. Old World quail are found in the family Phasianidae, while New World quail are found in the family Odontophoridae...

, dove

Dove

Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...

 and duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

. The forest provides wintering habitat for the threatened Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...

. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

The Red-cockaded Woodpecker is a woodpecker found in southeastern North America.- Description :About the size of the Northern Cardinal, it is approximately 8.5 in. long, with a wingspan of about 14 in. and a weight of about 1.5 ounces...

, an endangered species, is found throughout the forest.

History

Humans came to the area around 8,000 years ago. Archeological

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 sites document the evidence of man's presence over the entire period since then.

In 1934, the Texas Legislature

Texas Legislature

The Legislature of the state of Texas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The Legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin...

 approved a resolution

Resolution (policy debate)

In policy debate, a resolution or topic is a normative statement which the affirmative team affirms and the negative team negates. Resolutions are selected annually by affiliated schools....

 to urge federal purchase of land to create National Forests in Texas. In 1935, acquisition began on the Davy Crockett

Davy Crockett National Forest

Davy Crockett National Forest is off U.S. Highway 69 lying west of Lufkin, Texas and east of Crockett. It is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture National Forest Service local headquarters in Lufkin...

, Sam Houston

Sam Houston National Forest

The Sam Houston National Forest, one of four National Forests in Texas, is located 50 miles north of Houston. The forest is administered together with the other three United States National Forests and two National Grasslands located entirely in Texas, from common offices in Lufkin, Texas...

, Sabine

Sabine National Forest

Sabine National Forest is located in East Texas near the Texas-Louisiana border. The forest is administered together with the other three United States National Forests and two National Grasslands located entirely in Texas, from common offices in Lufkin, Texas. The units include Angelina, Davy...

and Angelina National Forests.

External links

• Angelina National Forest USDA Forest Service - National Forests & Grasslands in Texas