The Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) is a national recreation area in central Idaho, United States that is managed as part of Sawtooth National Forest. The recreation area, established on August 22, 1972, is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, and includes the Sawtooth, Hemingway–Boulders, and Cecil D. Andrus–White Clouds wilderness areas. Activities within the recreation area include hiking, backpacking, White water rafting, camping, rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, fishing, and hunting.
The SNRA headquarters are about seven miles (11 km) north of Ketchum on Highway 75. SNRA also has a ranger station in Stanley, near its northern boundary.
History
The SNRA was created on August 22, 1972 by , which including creating the Sawtooth Wilderness from the Sawtooth Primitive Area. The White Clouds and Hemingway–Boulders wilderness areas were created on August 7, 2015 by Public Law 114-46. Between 1998 and 2010 an outbreak of Mountain pine beetle killed thousands of Lodgepole Pine across the Sawtooth Valley. In recent years forest management activity has increased in the form of Prescribed Fire, commercial Logging, and non-commercial thinning of dead and diseased trees throughout the Sawtooth NRA. Active Forest management is designed to reduce hazardous wildfire fuel, restore beetle killed forests, regenerate young growth, and prevent the further spread of Bark beetle and disease such as dwarf mistletoe. Forest management activities have been developed and supported by the local residents through the Sawtooth Valley Wildfire Collaborative.
Geology
Much of the SNRA was heavily glaciated, especially in the Sawtooth Mountains where remnants of these glaciers exist as glacial lakes, moraines, hanging valleys, cirques, and arêtes. The Sawtooth Fault stretches long, and runs through the Sawtooth Valley, while the two past large earthquakes likely took place on the fault around 7,000 and 4,000 years b.p.
Mountains
The Sawtooth Mountains are in the SNRA, along with the White Cloud, Boulder, and Smoky mountains. The highest point in the SNRA is Castle Peak at in the White Cloud Mountains, while the second-highest point is Ryan Peak at in the Boulder Mountains. Thompson Peak, at an elevation of , is the highest point in the Sawtooth Mountains, while Saviers Peak at is the highest point in the Smoky Mountains.
Rivers
The headwaters of the Salmon River, also known as the "River of No Return" are in the SNRA, and the river flows north through the Sawtooth Valley before turning east in Stanley and following the northern border of the SNRA. The headwaters of the Big Wood, Boise, and Payette rivers are also in SNRA.
Lakes
There are hundreds of lakes in the SNRA, most of which have been created by alpine glaciers. The largest lakes are Redfish, Alturas, Pettit, Yellow Belly, Stanley, and Sawtooth lakes.
List of lakes of the Sawtooth Mountains
List of lakes of the White Cloud Mountains
Wildlife
Timber wolves were reintroduced in the 1990s and plans to reintroduce grizzly bears have been abandoned. The SNRA contains prime habitat for wolverines and the endangered Canadian lynx, but no recent sightings have been reported. Bull trout are the management indicator species for the SNRA and population monitoring efforts are undertaken every year.
List of animals of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area
List of birds of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area
Popular culture
A 2003 memoir by John Rember, Traplines: Coming Home to the Sawtooth Valley, describes the life and culture of Stanley, Idaho before and after establishment of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.
Clint Eastwood's 1985 film Pale Rider was filmed in the SNRA, mostly in the Boulder Mountains in the fall of 1984. The opening credits scene was shot south of Stanley in front of the Sawtooth Mountains. The SNRA is one of the settings of Lionsgate's 2010 3-D computer-animated film Alpha and Omega.
The Goat Plate
The mountain goat is a universal symbol signifying the human need to find high, quiet places. In Idaho, the mountain goat license plate symbolizes the importance of protecting the high quiet places like those found in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA).
The program generates roughly $50,000, annually — to date, 219 projects benefitting the SNRA have been funded through this innovative program. The Idaho Department of Motor Vehicles created a license plate depicting the SNRA as part of their special license plate program intended to grant funds for various causes. (see right).