One of Washington State's largest and most beautiful National Forests is named after Gifford Pinchot, a noted conservationist. Although his legacy is often touted as being primarily focused on conservation, he was a delegate to the first and second International Conferences on Eugenics and served on the advisory council of the American Eugenics Society.

Like many early conservationists (John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt to name a few), Pinchot was racist and a primary architect of indigenous erasure in the US. The notion of conservation at that time (the early 1900s) was rooted in colonialism and manifest destiny. Both of these ideas sought to take land from indigenous groups and brand it as "untouched wilderness" that needed to be preserved for the recreation and enjoyment of settler colonial citizens.

The fact that any public land, let alone land that is sacred to multiple indigenous groups across this region, is named after a eugenicist is not what we need. There are countless other people, groups, or impressive natural features this forest should be named after that do not have such a harmful legacy. 

Some renaming possibilities include Klickitat National Forest, Cascade National Forest, Evergreen National Forest, Lawetlat'la National Forest, or Volcanic National Forest.

Sign this petition if you believe we should change the name of this forest!