A Long Tradition

1936 Presidential proclamation created the Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests.
1937 National Forests total 484,199 acres. Santee Experimental Station established.
1938 First Timber Management Policy Statement prepared.
1940 Aircraft used to spot fires. Radios introduced.
1944 Prisoner of War Camp for Germans at Indian Creek.
Smokey Bear found at New Mexico forest fire.
1947 Calhoun Experimental Forest established.
1948 Turkey restocking on piedmont using birds trapped on Francis Marion.
1949 First even-age National Forest timber sale in Nation using prescribed burning for seedbed preparation with seed  trees.
1950 Francis Marion Timber Plan is first  in Nation prescribing evenage silviculture and regulation entirely by area. Cumulative value of first 13 years of timber sales reaches $1 million.
1954 Deer restocking in piedmont using deer trapped on Francis Marion.
1958 Forest Highway Act passed to develop access to Forest.
1959 Helicopter used to count cattle in Hell Hole range allotment. Deer and turkey once again seen in piedmont.
1960 Congress passes Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act.
1961 Seed Orchard started to produce superior pine seed.
Southern pine beetle epidemic hits Andrew Pickens.
1964 First Greentree Reservoir for waterfowl habitat built. Wilderness Act passed.
First comprehensive Recreation Plans.
1965 Land and Water Conservation Act permits collecting recreation fees. Woods Ferry Recreation Area dedicated.
1967 Permanent wildlife opening program began on piedmont Districts. Hydraulic felling sheers developed.
1968 Wild and Scenic River legislation directs study of Chattooga. Checklist of Birds on the Francis Marion developed.
1969 Negotiations began with Georgia Power for lands along Chattooga for Wild and Scenic River Corridor.
1970 Major land interchange with Corps of Engineers at Clark Hill Lake.
1971 First rifle range at Indian Creek.
1972 2,000,000,000 board feet harvested from since 1937. Helicopter applies fertilizer to improve soil.
1973 Endangered Species Act passed. Fire policy permits monitoring rather than suppressing wildfires.
1974 Congress names Chattooga a Wild and Scenic River.
1975 Congress names Ellicott Rock Wilderness Area. Chattooga River Safety plan reduces drownings. Erosion is reduced  by closing and seeding woods roads.
1976 Several hundred Title X employees working controlling erosion, improving roads and recreational areas, building trails and administrative facilities and   planting trees.
1977 First Chattooga trout stocking with helicopter. First   archeological surveys
before timber sales and construction.  Court upholds wearing lifejackets on Chattooga.
1980 National Forest Management Act requires Land Management Plans. Hell Hole Bay, Wambaw Swamp,Wambaw Creek and Little Wambaw Swamp  Wilderness designated.
1981 Francis Marion Cultural Resource Overview completed. Costs of doing business reduced by using volunteers to aid Forest Service projects and using contractors on projects traditionally done by employees.
1983 Netting used to collect seed in seed orchard
1985 Land Management plans completed for Francis Marion and Sumter--first in Southern Region. Plan creates Chauga, White Rock, Station Cove, Lee Falls, and Turkey/Stevens Creeks Special Areas.
1986 Forests celebrate 50th Anniversary.
1987 First use of helicopters for setting prescribed burns.
Aerial fertilization to improve soil productivity increasing.
1989 Hurricane Hugo's 135 mph winds fell a billion bf of timber, wipe out 2/3's of red-cockaded woodpeckers, destroy the seed orchard and most recreational facilities on the Francis Marion. Massive rebuildling efforts begin including 800 artificial red-cockaded woodpecker  cavities.
1996 Revised Land and Resource Management Plan adopted for the Francis Marion National Forest
2002 Southern Pine Beetle epidemic sweeps South Carolina. More than 2,000 spots were detected on the forests.
2004 Revised Land and Resource Management Plan adopted for the Sumter National Forest