National Forest
As National Forest are state forests of the federal government in the United States of America called. The US Forest Service was established for administration.
National Forests are used commercially for logging , but mostly also have scenic parts that are used for recreation. The forest administration advertises its activities with the phrase “Land of Many Uses”.
The National Forest System dates back to a law passed in 1891 and was the result of an initiative by businesspeople and landowners in the Los Angeles area who were concerned about the damage caused by ranchers to the San Gabriel Mountains catchment area . Today there are 155 National Forests in the United States, which cover a total of around 769,000 km² of land and are therefore larger than Germany, Poland and Austria combined. Most of them are in the western part of the United States, where Colorado , Idaho , Montana and California in particular have very high proportions. Only around 13 percent of the National Forests are east of the Mississippi River . The largest national forest is the Tongass in Alaska with around 69,000 km² .
Not all National Forests contain pristine forests. Those east of the Great Plains often required the afforestation of land that had long been privately owned and acquired by the US government to rebuild a national forest. Their dimensions are sometimes shown very imprecisely on maps, in that only the outermost boundaries of the acquired area are shown. In many cases, the land actually used is much smaller. The forests west of the Plains, on the other hand, are usually shown with their exact boundaries.
National Forests are very popular with nature lovers and are an insider tip for those who are looking for relaxation in the high season away from overcrowded national parks and do not want to do without impressive forest and mountain landscapes. Many of these protected areas come close to the attractiveness of national parks, but usually allow free camping as well as free use.
List of national forests
In the following list, National Forests that span the territory of several states are shown for each of these states, so duplicate entries may occur. Former national forests that were dissolved in the course of reorganization of the forest administration, converted into other protection categories, divided or merged with other areas are not listed.
There is at least one National Forest in most US states, with the exception of Connecticut , Delaware , Hawaii , Iowa , Kansas , Massachusetts , Nebraska , North Dakota , New Jersey, and Rhode Island . Another national forest is located in the US suburb of Puerto Rico .
Maps of the National Forests west of the Great Plains generally show the actual boundaries, while those east of the Great Plains generally only show the districts with area acquisitions, of which only a small proportion is actually designated as national forest. As of September 30, 2007, 780,090.96 km² of land was under administration by the United States Forest Service. The vast majority are designated either as National Forest (97.2%) or National Grassland (2.0%). There are a small number of other area categories, mainly land for purchase and research facilities, as well as a National Preserve (the Valles Caldera in New Mexico ).
Web links
- Official website of the US Forest Service (English).