The Chippewa is in the unique position of having several anniversaries. The core of the Chippewa national forest, the "Ten Section Area", was designated a Forest Reserve in 1902, with passage of the Morris Act. Both the “Forester of the Department of Agriculture" and the Indian Office of the Department of Interior oversaw the terms of the Act.

The Minnesota National Forest Act of May 23, 1908 created the Minnesota National Forest. The first national forest included 190,602 federal acres within a 312,476 acre area. The Minnesota National Forest was to be managed solely by the Department of Agriculture’s new US Forest Service.

The Minnesota National Forest was officially renamed the Chippewa National Forest on June 18, 1928 by President Calvin Coolidge. By 1933, lands were added from Beltrami and Itasca counties. The Chippewa National Forest then included 955,099 acres within its boundaries. Today’s Chippewa National Forest manages 666,621 acres within a 1.6 million acre area. Approximately 42% - 44% of those acres overlap the lands of the Leech Lake Reservation.