A little history. I did not why they are split and both called TNF, but assume b/c both share the foothills of the App Mtn chain.
USDA Forest Service -National Forests in Alabama
"On July 17, 1936, President Roosevelt, by proclamation, created the Talladega National Forest out of the Talladega and Oakmulgee Purchase Units. The Talladega National Forest, at one time, consisted of four ranger districts: Oakmulgee or the Cahaba Working Circle, Tuscaloosa or the Pondville Working Circle, Shoal Creek and Talladega. The Talladega Unit was divided into two districts October 1, 1945, with the northern district, Shoal Creek Ranger District, headquartered in Heflin. Thirty percent of the Shoal Creek/Talladega land was cut-over, cultivated and vacated farmland.
The Talladega National Forest is divided into three Ranger Districts: Oakmulgee District lies in the central part of the state, south of Tuscaloosa County in Hale, Tuscaloosa, Bibb, Perry, Chilton and Dallas Counties. The Shoal Creek and Talladega Districts are located in the northeastern part of the state in Cherokee, Calhoun, Cleburne, Talladega and Clay Counties. The Talladega and Shoal Creek Divisions of Talladega National Forest topography is comprised of upland hills and low mountains with predominantly moderately steep slopes. Oakmulgee Division of Talladega National Forest consists of level to moderately sloping, broad ridges with stream terraces and broad floodplains.
The National Forests in Alabama include approximately 667,000 acres of National Forest System land in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, Cumberland Plateau, Piedmont and Coastal Plain areas of the state. There are four national forests divided into six ranger districts.
A portion of the National Forests in Alabama, specifically the Talladega Division, is part of the Southern Appalachian ecosystem, The remainder of the National Forests in Alabama is within the Cumberland Plateau and Coastal Plain eco regions."
