page_title: Clark State Forest
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Clark State Forest / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Entrance sign of Clark State Forest, north of Henryville, Indiana.
context_page_description: Clark State Forest, located just north of Henryville, Indiana in the United States, is Indiana's oldest state forest, formed in 1903 as a forest research facility and a nursery and later expanded by the Works Progress Administration. Originally 2,028 acres of total land area, it is now almost 24,000 acres and is bisected by Interstate 65. It features three trails used exclusively for hikers trails: two internal trails, and the 59-mile Knobstone Trail. There are nine horse trails, and five miles of mountain bike trails. Two nature preserves are also situated within the forest. The forest also contains a 100-yard outdoor gun range.
context_section_description: A concern around the turn of the 20th century was that many woodworking facilities in Indiana would be forced to close due to dwindling timber supplies.  This wood was used by furniture makers and shipbuilders such as the Howard Shipyards. The timber industry was a major part of southern Indiana's agricultural income, but thousands of acres had been deforested. In response to the problem, the state of Indiana decided to establish a series of state forests to ensure the continued existence of timber for woodworking facilities, and to allow Indiana to maintain its ability to export hardwood. The Indiana General Assembly in 1901 created the Indiana State Board of Forestry.
  In May 1903, the Indiana state government purchased 2,028 acres (8.21 km²) of forest in the north of Clark County, noted for its knob features (isolated conical hills), for use as Indiana's first state forest, at a cost of US$16,000. Seedlings were planted at Clark State Forest, many of which were to be later moved to other parts of the state.  This practice allowed more productive use of the land within the forest, and facilitated the teaching of the art of forestry. Charles C. Deam, a botanist who in 1909 became Indiana's state forester, was in charge of making the state forest an experimental laboratory for 20th-century forest care.  Between the opening of the forest, and 1935, over 150 different tree types were tested, many of which survive yet.
  During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration chose to make Clark State Forest a training center for the Civilian Conservation Corps, and also made it Indiana's largest CCC cantonment in November 1933. They created artificial lakes within Clark State Forest, and built many bridges, to aid in water conservation, provide beauty spots within the forest, and teach forestry skills to members of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The state forest's proximity to the Jeffersonville Quartermaster Depot was key in the decision to focus so much attention on it.
caption: Entrance sign
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix A350", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Digital Camera FinePix A350 Ver1.00", "Image DateTime": "2006:09:16 17:47:35", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "366", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image Sharpness": "Normal", "Image SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1266", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9184", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/103", "EXIF FNumber": "281/100", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:09:16 17:47:35", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:09:16 17:47:35", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "669/100", "EXIF ApertureValue": "149/50", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "6", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "29/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1944", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "4545", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "4545", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}