In the United States , national forest is a classification of protected and managed federal lands that are largely forest and woodland areas. They are owned collectively by the American people through the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service , a division of the United States Department of Agriculture . The U.S. Forest Service is also a forestry research organization which provides financial assistance to state and local forestry industry. There are 154 national forests in the United States.
18-529: The Deschutes National Forest is a United States national forest (NF) located in Central Oregon , in parts of Deschutes , Klamath , Lake , and Jefferson counties. It was established in 1908, with border changes following in 1911 and 1915. The forest now encompasses almost 1.6 million acres (6,500 km) along the east side of the Cascade Range . The forest is bordered to the south by
36-696: The Fremont–Winema NF , to the southwest by the Umpqua NF , and to the west by the Willamette NF . The Deschutes NF hosts official preservation areas , various biology, and recreational activities. The Deschutes National Forest was established in 1908 from parts of the Blue Mountains , Cascade , and Fremont national forests (NFs). In 1911, parts of the Deschutes were split off to form
54-495: The National Park Service , extraction of natural resources from national forests is permitted, and in many cases encouraged. 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”. However,
72-778: The Newberry National Volcanic Monument , the park overlays six National Wild and Scenic Rivers , the Metolius Preserve , and the Oregon Cascade Recreation Area. There are five wilderness areas officially designated by the National Wilderness Preservation System which overlap the forest and are shared administratively with neighboring NFs. About 7,700 years ago, the eruption of Mount Mazama (forming Crater Lake , south of
90-842: The Ochoco and Paulina NFs, with parts of the Cascade and Oregon NFs being added to the Deschutes; in 1915, the Paulina NF was absorbed back into the Deschutes. From 1964 to 1966, NASA used the park's Newberry Volcano as a training location for Apollo astronauts. In 1990, the area around the volcano was designated as a national monument . The forest covers a total of 1.6 million acres (6,462 square kilometres). Its headquarters are located in Bend, Oregon . There are local ranger district offices in Bend, Crescent , and Sisters . In addition to
108-454: 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. This would be facilitated through shrinking the rules and regulations required to get permits to conduct such business. In October 2020,
126-429: The grasslands , shrublands , and forest understory are grazed by sheep , cattle, and more recently, rising numbers of elk and mule deer due to loss of 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. Ipomopsis aggregata Too Many Requests If you report this error to
144-567: The Federal Government's participation in this effort and repeal the current $ 30 million annual funding cap for the Reforestation Trust Fund. The United States national forest comprises about 132 million acres. There are 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands containing 193 million acres (297,000 mi /769 000 km ) of land. These lands comprise 8.5 percent of the total land area of
162-592: The Forest Service to identify, investigate, and protect cultural resources on lands it manages. The U.S. Forest Service also manages all of the United States national grasslands and nearly 50% of the United States national recreation areas . Land management of these areas focuses on conservation , timber harvesting , livestock grazing , watershed protection, wildlife , and recreation . Unlike national parks and other federal lands managed by
180-525: The Newberry National Volcanic Monument. A 1993 U.S. Forest Service study estimated that the extent of old growth in the forest was 348,100 acres (140,900 hectares), about 21.7% of the park's total area. The endangered whitebark pine can be found in the forest. No other federally endangered or threatened species were known as of 2009. The park also includes at least 460 acres (190 ha) of fen wetland. Forbs in
198-635: 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". Furthermore, President Trump signed an executive order to "establish the United States One Trillion Trees Interagency Council" in order to further
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#1732780099111216-621: The United States, an area about the size of Texas . 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. Within the national forest system, there are 1,200 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places and 23 are National Historic Landmarks . The National Historic Preservation Act requires
234-620: The area hosted a first-of-its-kind genetic analysis of soil to locate the fungi. Permits are sold for collecting mushrooms, with commercial picking prohibited in most official areas. Matsutake can be collected for a two-month season beginning on September 5. Other fungi share a permit system with the Fremont–Winema , Umpqua , and Willamette national forests. Animals found in the forest include elk , deer , and frogs . The forest's caves provides habitat to around 14 species of bats, which consume millions of insects. Recreational activities in
252-634: The first-designated wilderness areas , and some of the largest, are on national forest lands. There are management decision conflicts between conservationists and environmentalists and natural resource extraction companies and lobbies (e.g. logging & mining) over the protection and/or use of national forest lands. These conflicts center on endangered species protection, logging of old-growth forests , intensive clear cut logging , undervalued stumpage fees, mining operations and mining claim laws, and logging/mining access roadbuilding within national forests. Additional conflicts arise from concerns that
270-1246: The forest include Achillea millefolium (yarrow), Antennaria rosea , Carex rossii , Chaenactis douglasii , Ericameria bloomeri , Eriogonum umbellatum , Eriophyllum lanatum , Fragaria virginiana (strawberry), Ipomopsis aggregata , Juncus balticus , Linum lewisii , Lupinus lepidus , Packera cana , Penstemon davidsonii , P. fruticosus , P. humilis , and P. speciosus . Grasses include Achnatherum hymenoides , Bromus carinatus , Elymus elymoides , Festuca idahoensis , Koeleria macrantha , Leymus cinereus , and Pseudoroegneria spicata . Shrubs include Arctostaphylos nevadensis , A. patula , Artemisia tridentata , Ceanothus prostratus , C. velutinus , Cercocarpus ledifolius , Chamaebatiaria millefolium , Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus , Cornus sericea , Holodiscus dumosus , Lonicera involucrata , Philadelphus lewisii , Physocarpus malvaceus , Prunus virginiana (chokecherry), Purshia tridentata , Ribes aureum (golden currant), Symphoricarpos albus , Ribes cereum (wax currant), and Rosa woodsii . The forest also contains matsutake mushrooms. In 2010, in partnership with Oregon State University ,
288-586: The forest include boating, fishing, wildlife watching, and hiking, as well as mountain biking (with an extensive trail system). Hiking and skiing can be done on Mount Bachelor , a stratovolcano in the Cascade Range . National forest (United States) The Land Revision Act of 1891 , enacted during the presidency of Benjamin Harrison , allowed the president to set aside forest reserves on public lands. Harrison established 15 forest reserves containing more than 13 million acres of land. The bill
306-427: The forest) covered the existing soil with about 3 feet (0.9 meters) of volcanic ash and pumice , forming a topsoil fairly inhospitable to plants, though with the underlying soil still being accessible to roots. The forest contains over 400 caves. The Newberry volcano area contains cinder cones , lava flows , and lava tubes . The highest point in the park is Paulina Peak , located south of Paulina Lake within
324-484: 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. There have been multiple legislative acts to expand the scope of the national forest system, as well as shrinking it. In 2020,
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