Gunnison National Forest
The Gunnison National Forest is a 6,900 km² forest area under the control of the federal government (" National Forest ") in the western US state of Colorado in the counties of Mesa , Gunnison , Hinsdale and Saguache . It is bordered to the north by the White River National Forest , to the west by the Grand Mesa National Forest and the Uncompahgre National Forest , to the east by the San Isabel National Forest and to the south by the Rio Grande National Forest . In the forest are the two wilderness areas Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness , which is also in the White River and the San Isabel National Forest, and the Collegiate Wilderness , which is also in the San Isabel National Forest. Theodore Roosevelt declared the forest as a National Forest on June 13, 1905 . The National Forest was named after the researcher John Williams Gunnison .
Like all National Forests, this forest area is federally owned and intensively used for forestry .