Timeline of the Sierra National Forest

The following is a timeline of the history of the Sierra National Forest in Central California, United States.

19th century

 * 1858
 * Galen Clark discovers Nelder Grove.
 * 1870
 * The Forest King is cut down in Nelder Grove.
 * 1874
 * The California Lumber Company established.
 * 1891
 * The Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company established.
 * 1893
 * President Benjamin Harrison creates Sierra Forest Reserve.
 * 1897
 * Sheepmen resist grazing control and reserves repeal.
 * 1898
 * Sierra reserves hire first 60 rangers. Gifford Pinchot named chief of United States Division of Forestry.
 * 1899
 * The first timber sale in a California National Forest.
 * Betsy became the first logging loocomotive in the southern Sierra Nevada.

20th century

 * 1901
 * Formation of Bass Lake.
 * The Shaver Lake Railroad opens to haul timber from the woods.
 * 1902
 * Charles H. Shinn becomes head ranger of the Sierra Reserves. North Fork headquarters opens.
 * 1903
 * President Theodore Roosevelt visits Chiquito Basin and Globe Rock.
 * 1907
 * Forest Reserves became national forests; Pinchot toured Stevenson Creek timber sale.
 * 1909
 * Fire lookout established on Shuteye Peak.
 * 1910
 * Big Creek Hydroelectric Project begins.
 * Bass Lake enlarged to its current dimensions.
 * 1912
 * The Yosemite Lumber Company constructed the steepest logging incline in history.
 * 1913
 * Huntington Lake completed.
 * 1919
 * Southern California Edison buys Shaver Lake, annexes it to the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project.
 * 1922
 * The Madera Sugar Pine Company ends labor contract with Chinese workers, sets fire to Chinatown.
 * Mammoth Pool Dam completed.
 * 1927
 * Shaver Lake completed.
 * 1930
 * Yosemite Lumber Company ceases operations.
 * Bass Lake begins annual Independence Day fireworks display.
 * 1931
 * The Madera Sugar Pine Company ceases operations.
 * The movie Carnival Boat was filmed at the Sugar Pine Lumber Company in Bass Lake and Central Camp.
 * 1933
 * The Sugar Pine Lumber Company declares bankruptcy.
 * 1940
 * Chinese Peak proposed as a ski area.
 * 1954
 * Lake Thomas A Edison completed.
 * 1961
 * Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad begins running tourist trains.
 * 1963
 * The Hells Angels begin meeting in Bass Lake for their annual Memorial Day run.
 * 1964
 * Wilderness Act passes.
 * John Muir Wilderness established.
 * Tehipite Valley transferred to Kings Canyon National Park.
 * 1974
 * Kaiser Wilderness established.
 * 1984
 * California Wilderness Act halts Trans-Sierra Highway.
 * 1989
 * Sierra Vista Scenic Byway named a national scenic byway.

21st Century

 * 2018
 * The Ferguson Fire seriously impacted the recreational areas of the Sierra National Forest.
 * 2020
 * The Creek Fire, burning primarily in the Sierra National Forest, became the fifth-largest wildfire in modern California history.