A centennial celebration is coming up for Michigan's oldest National Forest. The Marquette National Forest, now part of the Hiawatha National Forest's East Unit, was designated by Presidential Proclamation February 10, 1909, by Theodore Roosevelt.

A variety of events are being planned and will be publicized throughout the coming months, said Hiawatha National Forest Supervisor Tom Schmidt January 30.

A public exhibit will be set up about the forest Thursday, February 12, at the St. Ignace Visitor Center on US-2. The exhibit will detail the history of the Marquette National Forest and will include historic photos, cartoons, maps, and documents, said District Ranger Stevan Christiansen.

The forest began as a small unit, and benefited greatly from the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, said Hiawatha National Forest archaeologist John Franzen.

"The Marquette National Forest was a small unit in the beginning - so small that for a while it became part of the Michigan National Forest, administered from Cadillac," he said.

But in 1928, Mr. Franzen explains, the Mackinac Purchase Unit was established and additional parcels were acquired in Chippewa County. By 1931, enough land had been purchased to justify expansion and the Marquette National Forest was reestablished through proclamation by President Hoover.

The next big step in the forest's history came with the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corp in 1933.

"Labor-intensive projects, like tree planting on cutover lands, would have been impossible without the CCC," said Mr. Franzen. "Even though the CCC program only lasted from 1933 to 1942, we are still reaping the benefits from many of the projects they started."

In 1962, the Marquette National Forest merged with the Hiawatha National Forest and the forest took on the basic configuration it has today. In the decades since, the Hiawatha continued to develop its infrastructure as its management responded to the evolution of scientific understanding and public policy.

Today, the forest includes approximately a million acres in two main units, including five wildernesses, five wild and scenic river corridors, a scenic byway, and a national recreation area. Several historic sites lie within the forest's boundaries, including six lighthouses. These lighthouses and about 100 miles of shoreline on three of the Great Lakes highlight the Hiawatha's unique character among federal lands. The land is managed to sustain a range of uses including recreation, wildlife habitat, and timber production.