Boise National Forest spans 2,203,703 acres in central Idaho and was created in 1908 from part of Sawtooth National Forest. Managed from Boise, it stretches across granitic mountains, deep river canyons, forests, streams, lakes, and reservoirs, and shelters rare native plants, including most known populations of Sacajawea's bitterroot. The region was long used by the Shoshone before trappers and fur traders arrived in the early 19th century. Gold discoveries beginning in 1862 brought a brief but dramatic boom, especially at Idaho City, and mining continued for decades. Federal stewardship, including Civilian Conservation Corps work in the 1930s, helped shape it into both a working landscape and a major recreation area.