Asheville has deep roots with nature and March is a warm reminder of its rich history.
On March 27, 1911, the US Forest Service authorized the first-ever purchase of timberland for eastern national forests. It included seven total areas, five of which were in WNC with many eyes eagerly locked on the 215,000+ acres around Mt. Mitchell.
These forests weren’t built overnight — it took until December 1911 for any of this to become a reality when 8,100 acres of land near the head of Curtis Creek was acquired from an NC-based lumber company.
Fast forward five years and that acquisition stood as one of many. All of those collective efforts led to the creation of the Pisgah National Forest in 1916, which is the first national forest in the eastern US.
So what set all this in motion? The Weeks Act allocated $9 million to the USFS for conservation efforts after concerns were raised about wildfires across the country. It was passed on March 1, 1911 and it was instrumental in establishing national forests in eastern America.
