forest: Forest Facts

Facts about forests in the United States. For more information (all links will open in a separate window):

National forests are America’s Great Outdoors. They encompass 191 million acres (77.3 million hectares) of land, which is an area equivalent to the size of Texas. [USFS]
National Forest: There are 155 national forests and 20 grasslands. The Forest Service manages public lands, known collectively as the National Forest System, located in 44 States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The lands comprise 8.5 percent of the total land area in the United States. [USFS]
About two-thirds (504 million acres) of U.S. forest is classes as timberland (forests capable of producing 20 cubic feet per acre of industrial wood annually and not legally reserved from timber harvest. 52 million acres are reserved for nontimber uses as parks or wilderness areas. [1997 USFS, GTR NC-219]
33 percent of all forest land is federally owned. USFS administers the largest portion of Federal forest land, 147 acres (59 percent).
The Wilderness system in the United States is 105,778,352 acres (2002). Alaska contains 58,182,216 of the total acres, which is about 56%. [NWPS]

Recreation

177 = Number of National Forests and Grasslands (155 forests, 22 grasslands) covering 192 million acres
42 = States, Territories, Commonwealths having National Forests and National Grasslands
644 = Wilderness Areas in the NWPS
20 = National Recreation Areas (NRA) (includes Land Between the Lakes NRA)
9 = National Scenic Areas (NSA)
7 = National Monuments, Volcanic Monuments and National Preserves (NM)
7 = Million acres of NRA, NSA and NM
136 = National Forest Scenic Byways (9,126 miles)
95 = Wild and Scenic Rivers (4,418 miles)
133,087 = Miles Trails
6,709 = Miles Scenic and Historic Trails
277,000 = Heritage Sites
4,300 = Campgrounds
23,000 = Developed Recreation Sites
135 = Alpine Ski Areas
1,496 = Picnic Sites
1,222 = Boating Sites
140 = Swimming Areas
18,000 = Recreation Facilities
14,900 = Recreation Residences
480 = Resorts

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