The law provided that the land might be restored to national forest status by proclamation or order of the President when it was no longer needed for military purposes.

In descending order of amount of land area the forest is located in parts of southern Okaloosa, Walton, and Santa Rosa counties.

[citation needed] During the early years, Camp Pinchot was the Forest Supervisor's summer headquarters.

In 2000, Camp Pinchot celebrated its 50th anniversary as the residence for the Eglin Air Force Base Commander.

Some parcels lost many of their national forest characteristics by changing land-use over the years and others are difficult to manage because they are not contiguous.