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File:Flickr_-_Nicholas_T_-_Tionesta_Research_Natural_Area_(Revisited)_(2).jpg.html" style="text-decoration: none;"class="mw-redirect" title="Allegheny National Forest">File:Flickr - Nicholas T - Tionesta Research Natural Area (Revisited) (2).jpg">thumb|Allegheny National Forest, [[Pennsylvania
In the [[United States]], national forest is a classification of [[protected area|protected]] and managed [[federal lands]]. National forests are largely [[forest]] and [[woodland]] areas owned collectively by the American people through the
federal government, and managed by the
United States Forest Service, a division of the
United States Department of Agriculture. The National Forest Service is also a forestry research organization who provides financial assistance to state and local forestry industry.
As of 2020, there are
154 national forests in the United States.
History
The National Forest System was created by the
Land Revision Act of 1891, which was enacted during the presidency of
Benjamin Harrison. This act took land to form
national parks in the West, including 15 reserves containing more than 13 million acres of land.
It was the result of concerted action by
Los Angeles-area businessmen and property owners who were concerned by the harm being done to the watershed of the
San Gabriel Mountains by ranchers and miners.
Abbot Kinney and forester
Theodore Lukens were key spokesmen for the effort.
Timeline of Legislation:
* 1897: the Organic Act was passed to protect watersheds and forests while still allowing the timber industry to continue.
* 1905: congress established the US Forest Service as a division of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
This agency was formed to map, maintain, and protect forests as well as provide water and timber for national benefit. Gifford Pinchot was appointed the head of the US Forest Service by President Roosevelt.
* 1907: 99 million acres were added to the national forests.
* 1922: Secretary of Agriculture authorized the selling of national forest land in exchange for private land of equal value, which changed the national forest service from a conservation organization to one that focuses on the logging industry.
* 1925: national forests were authorized to grant grazing permits for 10 years.
* 1944:the Sustained-Yield Forest Management Act was passed which encouraged the building of logging mills throughout the west.
* 1970: The National Environmental Policy Act was passed which required the environmental impact statements to be made for federal actions that may impact the environment. This allowed a legal standing to challenge the logging industry.
* 1973: the Endangered Species Act passed, giving forest advocates a legal basis to challenge logging if it threatened an endangered species.
* 1976: the National Forest Management Act was put into place to protect lands and ecosystems.
It was to protect national forests from destructive logging practices, so Congress told the Forest System to develop regulations on the size of clearcuts, protect waterways, and restrict the rate of cutting to protect reforestation.
* 1994: the Northwest Forest Plan was announced by President Clinton to try and slow logging in old-growth forests.
There have been multiple legislative acts to expand the scope of the national forest system, as well as shrinking it. Most recently, the
Trump administration has encouraged more forest products to be harvested in order to support a struggling economy. There is a plan to develop around 190 million acres of protected National Forests in order to increase logging, grazing, and energy resources.
This would be facilitated through shrinking the rules and regulations required to get permits to conduct such business. In October 2020, the Trump administration proclaimed its goal of "strengthening markets for wood products and incentivizing innovative manufacturing techniques" and reported "The Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service sold 3.3 billion board feet of timber from national forests in fiscal year 2019 — the highest output since 1997".
Furthermore, President Trump signed an
executive order to "establish the United States One Trillion Trees Interagency Council" in order to further the Federal Government's participation in this effort and repeal the current $30 million annual funding cap for the Reforestation Trust Fund.
Geography
In the
United States there are 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands containing 193 million acres (297,000 mi
2/769 000 km
2) of land.
These lands comprise 8.5 percent of the total land area of the United States, an area about the size of
Texas.
Some 87 percent of national forest land lies west of the
Mississippi River in the mountain ranges of the
Western United States.
Alaska has 12 percent of all national forest lands.
Within the national forest system, there are 1,200 sites listed on the
National Register of Historic Places and 23 are
National Historic Landmarks.
The
National Historic Preservation Act requires the Forest Service to identify, investigate, and protect cultural resources on lands it manages.
The U.S. Forest Service also manages all of the
United States national grasslands and nearly 50% of the
United States national recreation areas.
Management
Land management of these areas focuses on
conservation,
timber harvesting,
livestock grazing,
watershed protection,
wildlife, and
recreation.
Unlike national parks and other federal lands managed by the
National Park Service, extraction of natural resources from national forests is permitted, and in many cases encouraged.
Forest products are the resources removed and harvested from national forests. They may be for commercial or personal use such as “lumber, paper, and firewood as well as 'special forest products' such as medicinal herbs, fungi, edible fruits and nuts, and other natural products”.
However, the first-designated
wilderness areas, and some of the largest, are on national forest lands.
There are management decision conflicts between
conservationists and
environmentalists and natural resource extraction companies and lobbies (e.g. logging & mining) over the protection and/or use of national forest lands. These conflicts center on
endangered species protection, logging of
old-growth forests, intensive
clear cut logging, undervalued
stumpage fees, mining operations and
mining claim laws, and logging/mining access road-building within national forests. Additional conflicts arise from concerns that the
grasslands,
shrublands, and forest
understory are grazed by
sheep, cattle, and more recently, rising numbers of
elk and
mule deer due to loss of
predators.
Many
ski resorts and summer
resorts operate on leased land in national forests.
See also
*
National Forest Management Act of 1976
*
Protected areas of the United States
*
State forest
*
References
External links
USDA Forest Service
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*Forest
Forests
*National forest
National forest
Category:National forests