[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 75 (Monday, May 19, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E763]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF CAMP PINCHOT NATIONAL HISTORIC 
                     DISTRICT IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA

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                            HON. JEFF MILLER

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 19, 2014

  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to commemorate 
the 100th anniversary of the Camp Pinchot National Historic District 
located in Northwest Florida.
   Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in October 1998, 
Camp Pinchot is nestled in the Choctawhatchee National Forest, near Ft. 
Walton Beach, Florida, along the west bank of Garnier's Bayou. One of 
the first national forests and designated as one of President Theodore 
Roosevelt's original eleven Forest Service Headquarters in 1908, 
Choctawhatchee National Forest aided in the area's regional development 
and the establishment of the Camp, nearly six years later. In its 
earlier years, the forest served as a means for timber and wood 
turpentine. During this period, hundreds of miles of county and state 
roads were also built to help service the area, while maintaining the 
natural beauty of the forest, which was a fundamental goal of Gifford 
Pinchot, the first Chief of the United States Forest Service and 
namesake of Camp Pinchot.
   During the Great Depression, Camp Pinchot and the Choctawhatchee 
National Forest stood as a location for work relief for the Civilian 
Conservation Corps. In 1940, the national forest was ceded to the War 
Department to be used for a proving ground for aircraft armament. Major 
General William E. Kepner, who served as the Commanding General of the 
Air Proving Ground, helped preserve the site of Camp Pinchot, and today 
it is home to Eglin Air Force Base Commander's quarters.
   Mr. Speaker, surrounded by live oaks draped with Spanish moss, Camp 
Pinchot to this day maintains the turn of the century spirit of a quiet 
and simple life, and I am honored to commemorate its one hundred years 
of existence.

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