Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest spans about 2.8 million acres across west-central Montana, from grasslands and sagebrush lowlands to mountain country along the Continental Divide. Inhabited for 8,000 to 10,000 years, it long served Blackfeet, Sioux, Cheyenne, Flathead, and Crow peoples before federal establishment in 1897 after the Blackfeet were forced to cede adjoining lands. One of the nation’s oldest forest preserves, it includes major wilderness areas, diverse wildlife, and roughly 1,600 miles of rivers and streams. Its history also includes the deadly 1949 Mann Gulch fire, while Badger-Two Medicine remains a sacred Blackfeet landscape and focus of protection efforts.