National forest (United States)
Sierra Nevada in the Sequoia National Forest, California
In the 154 national forests in the United States.
HistoryThe Land Revision Act of 1891, was enacted during the presidency of Benjamin Harrison,[2] allowed the president to set aside forest reserves on public lands.[3][4] Harrison established 15 forest reserves containing more than 13 million acres of land.[5] The bill 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
There have been multiple legislative acts to expand the scope of the national forest system, as well as shrinking it. In 2020, the Trump administration encouraged 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 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.[8] GeographyThe 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 of Texas.[1] About 87 percent of national forest land lies in the Western United States, mostly in mountain ranges. Alaska has 12 percent of all national forest lands.[10] Within the national forest system, there are 1,200 sites listed on the National Historic Landmarks.[1] The National Historic Preservation Act requires the Forest Service to identify, investigate, and protect cultural resources on lands it manages.[1]
The U.S. Forest Service also manages all of the United States national recreation areas .
Managementtimber harvesting, livestock grazing, watershed protection, wildlife, and recreation.[11] 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.[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-designated wilderness areas , and some of the largest, are on national forest lands.
There are management decision conflicts between predators .
Many ski resorts and summer resorts operate on leased land in national forests. National forests include 14 national monuments where resource extraction is restricted. List of national forestsSee also
References
External linksWikimedia Commons has media related to National Forests of the United States.
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