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National forest (United States)

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Sierra Nevadain theSequoia National Forest,California
Rainforestin theEl Yunque National Forest,Puerto Rico
Mount Hood National Forest,Oregon
Allegheny National Forest,Pennsylvania
Fall colors inOttawa National Forest,Michigan

In theUnited States,national forestis a classification ofprotectedand managedfederal landsthat are largelyforestandwoodlandareas. They are owned collectively by the American people through thefederal governmentand managed by theUnited States Forest Service,a division of theUnited States Department of Agriculture.The U.S. Forest Service is also a forestry research organization which provides financial assistance to state and local forestry industry.[1]There are154 national forestsin the United States.

History

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See also:History of the United States Forest Service

TheLand Revision Act of 1891,was enacted during the presidency ofBenjamin Harrison,[2]allowed the president to set aside forest reserves on public lands.[3][4]Harrison established 15forest reservescontaining more than 13 million acres of land.[5]The bill was the result of concerted action byLos Angeles-area businessmen and property owners who were concerned by the harm being done to the watershed of theSan Gabriel Mountainsby ranchers and miners.Abbot Kinneyand foresterTheodore Lukenswere key spokesmen for the effort.

Timeline of legislation

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  • 1897: TheOrganic Actwas passed to protect watersheds and forests while still allowing the timber industry to continue.[5]
  • 1905: TheTransfer Act of 1905established the US Forest Service as a division of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).[5]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 byPresident Roosevelt.[5]
  • 1907: 99 million acres were added to the national forests.[5]
  • 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 theloggingindustry.[5]
  • 1925: National forests were authorized to grant grazing permits for 10 years.[5]
  • 1944: The Sustained-Yield Forest Management Act was passed which encouraged the building of logging mills throughout the west.[5]
  • 1960: TheMultiple-Use Sustained-Yield Actdirects national forests to be managed for their timber, range, water, recreation, and wildlife, with no use greater than another.[6]
  • 1970: The National Environmental Policy Act was passed which required theenvironmental impact statementsto be made for federal actions that may impact the environment. This allowed a legal standing to challenge the logging industry.[5]
  • 1973: TheEndangered Species Actpassed, giving forest advocates a legal basis to challenge logging if it threatened an endangered species.[5]
  • 1976: TheNational Forest Management Actwas enacted to protect lands and ecosystems.[5]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.[5]
  • 1994: The Northwest Forest Plan was announced by PresidentBill Clintonto try to slow logging in old-growth forests.[5]

There have been multiple legislative acts to expand the scope of the national forest system, as well as shrinking it. In 2020, theTrump administrationencouraged more forest products to be harvested in order to support a struggling economy. There was a plan to develop around 190 million acres of protected National Forests in order to increase logging, grazing, and energy resources.[7]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".[8]Furthermore, President Trump signed anexecutive orderto "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.[8]

Geography

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The United States national forest comprises about 132 million acres.[9]There are 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands containing 193 million acres (297,000 mi2/769 000 km2) of land.[10]These lands comprise 8.5 percent of the total land area of the United States, an area about the size ofTexas.[1]About 87 percent of national forest land lies in theWestern United States,mostly in mountain ranges.Alaskahas 12 percent of all national forest lands.[10]

Within the national forest system, there are 1,200 sites listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesand 23 areNational Historic Landmarks.[1]TheNational Historic Preservation Actrequires the Forest Service to identify, investigate, and protect cultural resources on lands it manages.[1]

The U.S. Forest Service also manages all of theUnited States national grasslandsand nearly 50% of theUnited States national recreation areas.

Management

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Land managementof these areas focuses onconservation,timber harvesting,livestockgrazing,watershedprotection,wildlife,andrecreation.[11]Unlike national parks and other federal lands managed by theNational Park Service,extraction of natural resources from national forests is permitted, and in many cases encouraged.[11]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”.[11]However, the first-designatedwilderness areas,and some of the largest, are on national forest lands.

There are management decision conflicts betweenconservationistsandenvironmentalistsand naturalresource extractioncompanies and lobbies (e.g. logging & mining) over the protection and/or use of national forest lands. These conflicts center onendangered speciesprotection, logging ofold-growth forests,intensiveclear cut logging,undervaluedstumpagefees, mining operations andmining claimlaws, and logging/mining access road-building within national forests. Additional conflicts arise from concerns that thegrasslands,shrublands,and forestunderstoryare grazed bysheep,cattle, and more recently, rising numbers ofelkandmule deerdue to loss ofpredators.

Manyski resortsand summerresortsoperate on leased land in national forests.

National forests include 14national monumentswhere resource extraction is restricted.

List of national forests

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Main article:List of national forests of the United States

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcd"History & Culture | US Forest Service".www.fs.usda.gov.29 July 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 2020-10-16.Retrieved2020-10-16.
  2. ^McCarthy, G. M. (1977-01-01)."Hour of trial: the conservation conflict in Colorado and the West, 1891--1907".OSTI5021710.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  3. ^"Gifford Pinchot National Forest: Early History".U.S. Forest Service.Archived fromthe originalon 21 June 2009.Retrieved9 April2020.
  4. ^McCarthy, G. M. (1977-01-01)."Hour of trial: the conservation conflict in Colorado and the West, 1891--1907".OSTI5021710.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  5. ^abcdefghijklm"The Planet--A Brief History of National Forests".vault.sierraclub.org.Archivedfrom the original on 2020-10-17.Retrieved2020-10-16.
  6. ^Godfrey, AnthonyThe Ever-Changing View-A History of the National Forests in CaliforniaUSDA Forest Service Publishers, 2005 p. 399
  7. ^Grandoni, Dino."Analysis | The Energy 202: Forest Service sparks controversy for pushing logging, oil during pandemic".Washington Post.ISSN0190-8286.Archivedfrom the original on 2020-10-22.Retrieved2020-10-16.
  8. ^ab"Proclamation on National Forest Products Week, 2020".whitehouse.gov.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-01-20.Retrieved2020-12-01– viaNational Archives.
  9. ^Houck, Oliver A. “This Land is your Land: The Dark Canon of the United States Supreme Court in Natural Resources Law.”Natural Resources Journal.,vol. 62, no. 1, 2022, p. 15. JSTOR,https://www.jstor.org/stable/27108388.Retrieved 2 Dec. 2023.
  10. ^ab"By the Numbers | US Forest Service".www.fs.usda.gov.February 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 2020-10-15.Retrieved2020-10-16.
  11. ^abc"Managing the Land | US Forest Service".www.fs.usda.gov.29 September 2015.Archivedfrom the original on 2020-10-15.Retrieved2020-10-16.
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