National forests
National forests are areas of forestland owned and managed by national governments, distinct from national parks, which focus on preserving aesthetically and ecologically significant landscapes. In the U.S., the national forest system was one of the first comprehensive resource management programs, initiated in response to the dual pressures of timber preservation and national growth in the 19th century. The U.S. Forest Service, established in 1905, oversees these lands, which total approximately 132 million acres across 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands.
The primary objectives of national forests include sustainable timber production, resource protection, and providing multiple uses for the public, such as recreation and wildlife management. Legislative efforts, such as the Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act of 1960 and the National Forest Management Act of 1976, aim to balance conservation with resource utilization, though conflicts persist regarding land use and management practices. Globally, similar national forest programs exist in over 140 countries, reflecting a widespread recognition of the necessity to manage forest resources for economic, ecological, and social benefits. As environmental awareness grows, these systems increasingly prioritize sustainable practices and the preservation of biodiversity.
Subject Terms
National forests
DEFINITION: Forestlands owned and managed by a national government
The US national forest system was one of the first and most successful resource management and conservation programs initiated by the federal government. Similar programs have been developed in most of the forested nations of the world to manage the forests’ economic and ecological functions.
National forests are distinctly different from national parks. National parks are aesthetically pleasing, culturally or historically significant, or ecologically important tracts of land protected in perpetuity for the public benefit. National forests are publicly owned resource management areas operated to maximize the cash value of timber and forest products, benefit the domestic economy, and ensure perpetual productivity of the land.
In the United States, the nineteenth century saw increased efforts to preserve timber resources at the same time that unrestrained national growth encouraged increased timber harvesting. In 1827 US president John Quincy Adams expressed interest in developing a plan for sustainable forestry to ensure the availability of masts for ships. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) discussed the need for sustained-yield forestry during the 1860s, and in 1873 asked Congress to preserve and manage the nation’s forests.
The first congressional actions to preserve forests focused on areas of significant natural beauty, such as Yellowstone National Park and Yosemite Valley. The Division of Forestry was established within the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1876 to promote harvestable timber development. Protections for harvestable stands of timber were first approved in the Creative Act of 1891, which authorized the president of the United States to withdraw public lands previously open to preemption and homesteading rights and to establish forest reserves.
President Benjamin Harrison established America’s first national forest, now known as Shoshone National Forest, in Wyoming in 1891. Confusion arose over the process for including land within the national forest system, however, and Congress suspended the law while it debated the purpose of the reserves, eventually authorizing selective cutting and marketing of timber from the existing reserves. Controversy concerning the vesting of the forest resources in the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture ended in 1905 when the forest reserve system was established. President Theodore Roosevelt vested responsibility for national forest resources in the Bureau of Forestry of the Department of Agriculture under Gifford Pinchot, chief of the Division of Forestry. The bureau became known as the US Forest Service (USFS), and the reserve system became the national forest system in 1907.
A Resource with Many Uses
From its inception, the US national forest system was intended to serve multiple purposes. The purposes of the original legislation were to improve water flows and furnish a continuous supply of timber. This evolved into the triple purposes of resource protection (especially fire protection), "wise use" of timber resources, and multiple use of system lands. The forest service lands are protected, harvested, and open to multiple other public uses. The Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act of 1960 defined "multiple use" as a combination of outdoor recreation, fish and wildlife management, and timber production intended to meet the needs of the American people but not necessarily giving the maximum dollar value return.
The National Forest Management Act of 1976 increased citizen involvement in decisions concerning forest management issues such as timber harvesting, resource conservation, and multiple uses. The 1976 act also limited the technique of timber harvesting by clear-cutting, a practice condemned by most environmentalists. In addition, the act limited logging on fragile lands and encouraged actions to maintain the diversity of plants and animals and to conserve plants, animals, soils, and watersheds in the forests. However, the act also emphasized the importance of multiple uses such as mining, oil and gas exploration, grazing, farming, hunting, recreation, and logging. The conflicts among conservation, harvesting, and multiple uses have continued to plague forest policy decision makers. Emerging forest policies in the early twenty-first century include sustained-yield forestry; substitution of alternative harvestable crops for harvestable timber, including crops such as nuts, fruits, gums, extracts, syrups, tars, and oils; and ecosystem maintenance.
The federal government owns and manages approximately 258 million hectares (640 million acres) of public land, about 28 percent of the land area of the United States. Almost 30 percent of the federal land area is part of the national forest system. In 2022, the national forest system comprised nearly 132 million acres of land in 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands located in forty-four states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Two-thirds of US national forests are located in the West, the Southeast, and Alaska. Twenty-three eastern states share about fifty forests. Roughly one out of every six hectares in the national forest system is part of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS), and forest system lands represent about 33 percent of the NWPS.
Other National Forest Programs
Around the world, more than 140 countries have forest policy statements, and more than 150 countries have specific forest laws. Almost 75 percent of the world’s forests are covered by national forest programs, and about 80 percent are under public ownership.
According to 2020 statistics from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the world’s total forest area is 4.06 billion hectares, or 31 percent of the globe’s total land area. Forests in Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States, and China account for more than half of the world’s forested area. During the 1990s global forests declined at a rate of about 16 million hectares (39.5 million acres) per year. The decline slowed to 13 million hectares (32 million acres) per year between 2000 and 2010. In addition, during this later period natural forest expansion in combination with tree-planting programs added 7 million hectares (17.3 million acres) of new forest annually. In total from 1990 to 2015, the world's forest areas declined by 3.1 percent, or 129 million hectares. Between 2015 and 2020, the reate of deforestationw as estimated at 10 million hectares per year, a notable reduction.
The global area of forested lands in legally protected areas such as national parks and wilderness areas increased between 1990 and 2010 by more than 94 million hectares (232 million acres). In the 2010s legally protected areas accounted for about 13 percent of the world’s total forest area. By 2020, this number had resient to 18 percent. The largest share of protected areas was found in South America, while the lowest share was found in Europe. Environmental activism, ecotourism, and debt-for-nature swaps encourage the continuing development of national forest systems and other conservation measures in most nations of the world.
Bibliography
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Hays, Samuel P. The American People and the National Forests: The First Century of the U.S. Forest Service. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009.
Hays, Samuel P. Wars in the Woods: The Rise of Ecological Forestry in America. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2007.
Hirt, Paul W. A Conspiracy of Optimism: Management of the National Forests Since World War Two. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.
"The State of the World's Forests." United nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2020, www.fao.org/state-of-forests/en/. Accessed 21 July 2024.
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2010. Rome: Author, 2010.
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. State of the World's Forests, 2016. FAO, 2016, www.fao.org/3/a-i5588e.pdf. Accessed 22 Mar. 2018.
Vincent, Carol Hardy, Laura A. Hanson, and Carlo N. Argueta. "Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data." Congressional Research Service, 3 Mar. 2017, Federation of American Scientists, fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42346.pdf. Accessed 22 Mar. 2018.