FOREST SERVICE (USFS)

The largest and most diverse agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service provides leadership in the management, protection, and use of the nation's forests and rangelands, which comprise almost two-thirds of the nation's federally owned lands. The creation of the Forest Service go back to 1891 when the President was authorized to establish Forest Reserves from forest and range lands in the Public Domain. In 1905 the responsibilities for the management and protection of these Forest Reserves was transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service was formally established. The Forest Reserves were then renamed National Forests. Today the Forest Services manages 156 National Forests, 19 National Grasslands, and 16 Land Utilization Projects that make up the National Forest System located in 44 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Much of the nation's fresh water supply flows from National Forest System lands and insuring adequate yields of high quality water and continuing soil productivity are primary aims of the Forest Service's watershed management programs. The Forest Service manages more than 14 percent of the nation's 1.2 billion acres of forest range. This National Forest System (NFS) rangeland is managed to conserve the land and its vegetation while providing food for both domestic livestock and wildlife. The Forest Service manages fish and wildlife habitat on the National Forests and National Grasslands in cooperation with the individual states' fish and game departments. Of the 191 million acres of National Forests, 86.5 million acres are classified as commercial forests, available for, and capable of, producing crops of industrial wood. National Forest timber reserves are managed on a sustained-yield basis to produce a continuous supply of wood products to meet the nation's economic demands while maintaining the productive capacity of these lands. In 1924 the Forest Service pioneered the establishment of wilderness areas on National Forest lands. National Forest lands are a major source of mineral and energy supplies with regulatory and management responsibilities for mineral activities shared with the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines. The Forest Service, with one of the world's largest wildland firefighting forces, provides direct fire protection and control for National Forest System lands as well as cooperative fire control on several million additional acres. The Forest Service is responsible for the forest management aspects of the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The Forest Service also participates in the forestry aspects of the River Basin Program, which guides and coordinates water and related land resource planning among several federal departments. The Forest Service operates an extensive forestry research program consisting of eight Forest and Range Experiment Stations, a Forest Products Laboratory, and 75 research labs located throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the Pacific Trust Territories. The Forest Service is organized into nine (9) regions as listed below (regional headquarters are in parentheses): (1) Eastern Region (Milwaukee, Wisconsin): Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota; (2) Southern Region (Atlanta, Georgia): Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas; (3) Rocky Mountain Region (Denver, Colorado): South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Colorado; (4) Northern Region (Missoula, Montana): North Dakota, Montana, Idaho (northern part only), South Dakota (northwest corner only), Wyoming (northwest corner only); (5) Intermountain