l thousand years ago. Evidence of ephemeral use of resources can be found
throughout the Forest in the form of hunting and gathering artifacts, and temporary
shelters. However, two sections of the Forest contain evidence of permanent settlement
including significant archeological resources such as petroglyphs and pueblos. Euro-American
settlement in the late 1800s brought timber harvesting and domestic livestock to
the region. Since settlement of the region occurred relatively recently, timber
and grazing records are available for the entire duration of Euro-American settlement.
Logging activity touched much of the southwestern portion of the forest, but several
areas were uncut or only lightly affected by logging. Some of the best examples
of ancient ponderosa pine forests remaining in the Southwest occur on the Centennial
The Centennial Forest is designated as a research and teaching laboratory and administered
by the Arizona State Land Department and Northern Arizona University School of Forestry.
Under current management guidelines, considerable flexibility exists to manage lands
to achieve broad research and educational objectives. Since the Centennial Forest
opperates under a single managerial plan, there exists the possibility to create
and study truly landscape level ecological phenomenon.