Mount Baker National Forest was established as the Washington Forest Reserve on February 22, 1897 with . It became a national forest on March 4, 1907 and was renamed Mount Baker National Forest on January 21, 1924. Snoqualmie National Forest was established from land in Washington NF on 1 July 1908 with 961,120 acres (3,889.52 km²). A part of Rainier National Forest was added on October 19, 1933. The two were administratively combined in 1974.