Apache National Forest was established by the U.S. Forest Service in Arizona and New Mexico on July 1, 1908 with 1,302,711 acres (5,271.88 km²) from portions of Black Mesa National Forest. In 1974 entire forest was administratively combined with Sitgreaves National Forest to create Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. The area of the former Apache National Forest section covers most of Greenlee County, Arizona (excepting the southernmost part of the county), southern Apache County, Arizona, and part of western Catron County, New Mexico. It is much the larger of the two formerly separate entities. As of 30 September 2008, its area was 1,813,601 acres (7,339.4 km²), representing 68.9% of the combined Apache-Sitgreaves total area. There are local ranger district offices in Alpine, Duncan, and Springerville.