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39-533: Sierra National Forest was the second National Forest created in California and the largest at the time. It covered over six million acres (24,000 km) of the Sierra Nevada and was about four times the average area of typical California National Forests. Originally it embraced parts of eight counties from Tuolumne on the north to Kern on the south and Mono and Inyo on the east. Initially its name

78-548: A continuous protected area linking Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon national parks. Former Sequoia National Park ranger Deanna Lynn Wulff founded the organization Unite the Parks to campaign for the monument's establishment. The proposal has been endorsed by numerous local businesses and organizations, a group of 200 scientists, the California Democratic Party, Democratic National Committee, Sierra Club, and

117-423: A household in the county was $ 38,725, and the median income for a family was $ 44,327. Males had a median income of $ 35,373 versus $ 25,805 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 21,015. About 8.1% of families and 11.4% of the population were below the poverty line , including 16.2% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over. The Government of Tuolumne County is established and defined by

156-458: A tree indicator species , or by a lack of trees. The biotic zones include the foothill woodland zone from 1,000 to 3,000 feet (300 to 910 m) ( interior live oak ), the lower montane zone from 3,000 to 7,000 feet (910 to 2,130 m) ( Ponderosa pine ), the upper montane zone from 7,000 to 9,000 feet (2,100 to 2,700 m) ( lodgepole pine / red fir ), the subalpine zone from 9,000 to 9,500 feet (2,700 to 2,900 m) ( whitebark pine ), and

195-690: Is a wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada of California , United States . The wilderness spans 231,533 acres (93,698 ha); 33.9% of the territory lies in the Inyo National Forest , 65.8% is in the Sierra National Forest , and the remaining 0.3% covers nearly all of Devils Postpile National Monument . Yosemite National Park lies to the north and northwest, while the John Muir Wilderness lies to

234-763: Is also a ski resort, China Peak , that operates under a special use permit. Great sailing opportunities exist at Huntington Lake . The Sierra National Forest is located within the Pacific Southwest region of the US Forest Service. The forest is divided into three ranger districts: Bass Lake Ranger District is north and west of the San Joaquin River . Its Ranger District office is located at 57003 Road 225 North Fork, California , 93643. The district includes 36 camp sites, 17 picnic sites, 7 Off Highway Vehicle Trails, and 10 trails. It includes

273-608: Is famous for his black-and-white landscape photographs of the Sierra Nevada. The Ansel Adams wilderness spans in elevation from 3,500 to 13,157 feet (1,067 to 4,010 m), forming the northern end of the High Sierra. The centerpiece of the Ansel Adams wilderness is the Ritter Range , which includes dark metavolcanic glaciated mountains such as Mount Ritter , Banner Peak , and The Minarets . Immediately to

312-532: Is in California's 5th congressional district , represented by Republican Tom McClintock . In the state legislature Tuolumne is in the 8th Assembly district, which is held by Republican Jim Patterson and the 4th Senate district, which is held by Republican Marie Alvarado-Gill. The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Tuolumne County. † county seat Ansel Adams Wilderness The Ansel Adams Wilderness

351-716: Is lower than the Ritter Range. This relatively low region of the Crest allows winter storms through and cause large amounts of snowfall on Mammoth Mountain , which sits in the gap. The gap also allows migration of plants and animals across the Sierra Crest. To the west of the Ritter Range lies the canyon of the North Fork of the San Joaquin, a relatively remote and unvisited high-country area. The southern part of

390-506: Is water. A California Department of Forestry document reports Tuolumne County's 1,030,812 acres (4,171.55 km ) include federal lands such as Yosemite National Park, Stanislaus National Forest , Bureau of Land Management lands, and Indian reservations. Notable landforms in the county include Table Mountain . Special districts in Tuolumne County include: Tuolumne County Transit bus routes radiate from Sonora to serve most of

429-504: The County of Tuolumne , is a county located in the U.S. state of California . As of the 2020 census , the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora . Tuolumne County comprises the Sonora, CA Micropolitan Statistical Area . The county is in the Sierra Nevada region. The northern half of Yosemite National Park is located in the eastern part of

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468-704: The Sequoia National Forest , and Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks were established from this south portion of Sierra National Forest. Eastern portions of Sierra National Forest became the Inyo and Toiyabe National Forests; northern portions were used for Yosemite National Park and the Stanislaus National Forest . The Sierra National Forest contains artifacts dating back over 10,000 years, mainly from indigenous people before written records started about 150 years ago. Around

507-502: The alpine zone from 9,500 feet (2,900 m) (above the tree line ). Some 383,000 acres (598 sq mi; 1,550 km) of the forest are old growth , containing lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta ) and red fir ( Abies magnifica ). A campaign to designate the national forest as a national monument was begun in 2015. The proposal for the 1,400,000-acre (5,700 km) Range of Light National Monument would prevent new mining operations and phase out logging and grazing, resulting in

546-459: The census of 2000, there were 54,501 people, 21,004 households, and 14,240 families residing in the county. The population density was 9/km (23/sq mi). There were 28,336 housing units at an average density of 5/km (13/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 89.5% White , 2.1% Black or African American , 1.8% Native American , 0.7% Asian , 0.2% Pacific Islander , 2.9% from other races , and 2.8% from two or more races. 8.2% of

585-586: The California Constitution and is a five-member elected Board Of Supervisors who serve four year elected terms. The government provides services such as elections and voter registration, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, and social services. The Board is government for all unincorporated areas. Sonora is the only incorporated city in Tuolumne County. The Tuolumne County Sheriff provides court protection, jail administration, and coroner services for

624-460: The Coalition to Protect America's National Parks. The protection of old-growth trees would contribute to the 30 by 30 initiative. It is opposed by Congressman Tom McClintock and the logging industry. In December 2022, Congressmembers Jackie Speier and Jerry McNerney introduced a bill that would establish Range of Light National Monument comprising the entirety of Sierra National Forest and

663-636: The Forest Service Offices of Oakhurst (40343 Hwy 41, Oakhurst, California 93644), and the Clover Meadow Wilderness Office. High Sierra Ranger District is south and east of the San Joaquin River; it has its Ranger District office out of 29688 Auberry Rd P.O. Box 559 Prather, California 93651. This district contains 30 camp sites, 11 picnic sites, and 13 Off Highway Vehicle Trails. It also includes

702-641: The High Sierra. The forest's boundary starts clockwise at the intersections of the Merced River , Sweetwater Creek and HWY 140 , then moves east following the Merced River canyon to the border with Yosemite National Park near El Portal . Then it follows the park's southern boundary until it reaches the Inyo National forest near Electra Peak . From there it travels south to its border with Kings Canyon National Park near Mount Goethe . It follows

741-702: The San Joaquin Gorge managed by the Bureau of Land Management . The new national monument would be administered by the National Park Service , which would manage land for conservation rather than multiple-use . Unite the Parks has also led a lawsuit to prevent logging in fisher habitat. Tuolumne County, California 38°01′N 119°56′W  /  38.02°N 119.94°W  / 38.02; -119.94 Tuolumne County ( / t u ˈ ɒ l əm i / ), officially

780-660: The Southwest and Northeast corners of the county respectively. The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense. The 2010 United States Census reported that Tuolumne County had a population of 55,365. The racial makeup of Tuolumne County was 48,274 (87.2%) White , 1,143 (2.1%) African American , 1,039 (1.9%) Native American , 572 (1.0%) Asian , 76 (0.1%) Pacific Islander , 2,238 (4.0%) from other races , and 2,023 (3.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5,918 persons (10.7%). As of

819-772: The Yosemite Sierra Visitor Bureau (40343 Highway 41, Oakhurst, California 93644); and the Fresno Air Attack Base which is co-located with the Sierra National Forest Emergency Communications Center (2307 and 2309 N Clovis Ave, Fresno, California 93727) at Fresno Yosemite International Airport . In addition, the forest has a close relationship with the Teakettle Experimental Forest which is deep inside

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858-497: The boundary travels north to Yosemite Forks and moves west towards Miami Mountain, then heads north to return to the Merced River. The forest includes a number of scenic attractions, including Fresno Dome and Nelder Grove . Several reservoirs offer fishing and boating, including Bass Lake , Shaver Lake , Wishon Reservoir , and Courtright Reservoir . There are numerous hiking opportunities in wilderness areas: Ansel Adams , John Muir , Dinkey Lakes , Kaiser , and Monarch . There

897-721: The county. The name Tuolumne is of Native American origin and has been given different meanings, such as Many Stone Houses, The Land of Mountain Lions, and Straight Up Steep, the latter an interpretation of William Fuller , a native Chief. Mariano Vallejo , in his report to the first California State Legislature , said that the word is "a corruption of the Native American word talmalamne which signifies 'cluster of stone wigwams.'" The name may mean "people who dwell in stone houses," i.e., in caves. Tuolumne County Boundaries One of California's original 27 counties, Tuolumne

936-508: The county. In Columbia, a connection can be made to Calaveras County Transit. There is no public transportation into or out of Tuolumne County that connects to any of the closest metropolitan areas. Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS) makes a single daily round trip from Sonora into Yosemite Valley during the summer months. Columbia Airport and Pine Mountain Lake Airport are both general aviation airports located in

975-566: The east of the Ritter Range is the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River , which contains Devils Postpile , a series of basaltic columns that were revealed and smoothed by glacier action. The Middle Fork originates from Thousand Island Lake , at the foot of Banner Peak, one of the largest backcountry lakes in the Sierra. To the east of the Middle Fork canyon is the true Sierra Crest, which, at roughly 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of elevation

1014-408: The eastern portions of Fresno , Madera , and Mariposa counties, adjacent to the southern part of Yosemite National Park . It includes more than 1,300,000 acres (2,000 sq mi; 5,300 km), at altitudes ranging from 900 to 13,986 feet (274 to 4,263 m) in elevation. The terrain includes rolling, oak-covered foothills, heavily forested middle elevation slopes and the tundra landscape of

1053-670: The entire county. It provides patrol and detective services for the unincorporated areas of the county. Within the city limits of Sonora, patrol and detective services are served by the Sonora Police Department. Tuolumne county tends to vote Republican in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win the county was Bill Clinton in 1992 . In the 2008 presidential election , 14,988 votes were counted for John McCain with former president Barack Obama receiving 11,532 votes. Tuolumne County

1092-523: The establishment of Alpine County to the northeast. With the State's Adoption of the Political Code in 1872 the current boundaries of Tuolumne County were largely established as shown in the maps below. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 2,274 square miles (5,890 km ), of which 2,221 square miles (5,750 km ) is land and 54 square miles (140 km ) (2.4%)

1131-695: The following Forest Service Offices; the High Sierra visitor information station near Mono Hot Springs on the Kaiser Pass Road, Eastwood visitor information center at Hwy 168 and Kaiser Pass Road at Huntington Lake , Dinkey Creek visitor information center on Dinkey Creek Road near the Dinkey Creek Campground, Supervisor's Office (an administrative Unit) contains the Sierra National Forest Supervisor's office (1600 Tollhouse Rd Clovis, California, 93611);

1170-762: The forest and the San Joaquin Experimental Range which is just outside the forest boundaries. They both fall in the Pacific Southwest Research Station which is based in Berkeley, California . The ecology of the National Forest is typical for the western side of the southern Sierra Nevada: distributions of species are largely governed by climate, which is strongly dependent on altitude. The ecology can be described by biotic zones, which are marked by either

1209-963: The late 1700s, the Fresno River marked the area between the Southern Sierra Miwok and the Chukchansi Yokuts , with the Western Mono living near today's Bass Lake . The borders between these groups were not clear-cut, showing that the Miwok, Yokuts, and Mono territories often overlapped. The first timber sale on a California National Forest took place in the Sierra NF by the United States General Land Office in 1899. Sierra National Forest covers, in descending order of forestland area,

Sierra National Forest - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-618: The park's northern border, then heads south to the Kings River near Deer Canyon. From there it moves down the Kings River canyon east; south of the river is the Sequoia National Forest. When it reaches Pine Flat Lake near Trimmer, it turns north towards Tollhouse and continues on to Auberry . From there Sierra National Forest moves on to North Fork , then west to form a small finger towards Coarsegold . Finally,

1287-446: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 94.7% spoke English and 3.5% Spanish as their first language. There were 21,004 households, out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.4% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.70% had someone living alone who

1326-562: The south. The wilderness was established as part of the original Wilderness Act in 1964 as the Minarets Wilderness . The 109,500-acre (44,300 ha) Minarets Wilderness was created by enlarging and renaming the Mount Dana-Minarets Primitive Area. In 1984, after his death, the area was expanded and renamed in memory of Ansel Adams , well-known environmentalist and nature photographer who

1365-422: The wilderness contains the 3,000 feet (900 m) deep canyon of the main San Joaquin River, which flows out of the Sierra Nevada to California's Central Valley . The Ansel Adams wilderness contains substantial area above treeline, at approximately 9,600 to 10,400 feet (2,900 to 3,200 m). The area above treeline contains alpine meadows and fellfields , with a large number of glacial lakes. Below treeline,

1404-479: The wilderness is dominated by lodgepole pine , red fir , and Jeffrey pine , depending on elevation. The wilderness contains 349 miles (562 km) of hiking trails, including portions of the John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails . The Sierra High Route , an off-trail route described by Steve Roper , runs along the base of the Ritter Range, through the wilderness. The Middle Fork of the San Joaquin receives

1443-454: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.82. In the county, the population was spread out, with 20.7% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 111.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.20 males. The median income for

1482-629: Was descriptive, but later when the Sierra was divided into different units this was no longer the case. President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed the Sierra Forest Reserve on February 14, 1893. Four years later the south half became a separate unit and was named Sierra South during the "forest reserves" era. This designation was dropped after the administrative transition to the National Forests on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908,

1521-497: Was organized in 1850. Prior to the official naming of counties by the state, Tuolumne was sometimes referred to as Oro County. The original lines of Tuolumne County were not long established. In 1854 and 1855 the portion of Tuolumne County that extended west into the San Joaquin Valley was reorganized as Stanislaus County. In 1864 a number of the original counties including Tuolumne contributed lands that would lead to

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