Subsequently, Sawtooth National Forest began to extensively develop recreation opportunities, including new campgrounds, trails, and roads.

[9] Support for greater protection of the Sawtooths and surrounding areas grew after the discovery of a molybdenum deposit at the base of Castle Peak in the White Cloud Mountains in 1968.

In March 1971 Idaho's congressional delegation was finally united and introduced legislation to create the SNRA.

Although camping and fishing are allowed with proper permit, no roads or buildings are constructed, and there is also no logging or mining.

[11] There are 40 trails totaling nearly 350 miles (560 km) in the wilderness that can be used for day hiking, backpacking, and horseback riding and accessed from 23 trailheads.

[20] The Sawtooth Mountains were last extensively glaciated in the Pleistocene, but glaciers probably existed during the Little Ice Age, which ended around AD 1850.

Graham Guard Station is by the North Fork Boise River, on the far western edge of the Sawtooth Wilderness.

Land cover types in the Sawtooth Wilderness include pine and spruce-fir forests, meadows, and alpine tundra.

Lodgepole pine forms nearly monotypic forests in lower elevations of the wilderness, while douglas fir and quaking aspen can also be found.

[12] Most of the area's native mammal species are present in the wilderness, with the exception of grizzly bears, which have become locally extinct.

Gray wolves were reintroduced to the SNRA amidst controversy in the mid-1990s and now occupy most of the forest except for the Minidoka District.

They were reintroduced to restore the ecosystem stability that they provide as top predators, including managing high elk populations, which had inhibited new vegetation growth.

[28][29][30][31] The wilderness contains habitat for wolverines and the endangered Canada lynx, but no recent sightings of these species have been reported.

Bull trout are the management indicator species for Sawtooth National Forest, and they can be found in some of the streams in the wilderness.