Nebraska National Forest in western Nebraska covers 141,864 acres in two contrasting units: the Bessey Ranger District in the Sandhills and the Pine Ridge Ranger District in the northwest. Its unusual origin began in 1902, when Charles Edwin Bessey and Gifford Pinchot won support to test whether trees could be grown on treeless Great Plains sandhills to address concerns about future timber shortages. Created in 1907 from three national forests, it became a notable conservation experiment. Bessey includes the nation’s largest human-planted forest and an active tree nursery, while Pine Ridge protects native ponderosa pine forest, wilderness, and recreation lands.