United States Forest Service
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Reverted [[WP:AGF|good faith]] edits by [[Special:Contributions/208.120.253.15|208.120.253.15]]; Rv unexplained deletion and addition of unsourced material. ([[WP:TW|TW]])
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{{Infobox Govt Agency
| agency_name = United States Forest Service
| logo = forestservice-shield.svg
| logo_width = 175 px
| logo_caption = Logo of the U.S. Forest Service.
| formed = 1905
| preceding1 = Bureau of Forestry
| dissolved =
| superseding =
| jurisdiction = [[Federal Government of the United States]]
| employees =
| chief1_name = [[Gail Kimbell|Abigail R. Kimbell]]
| chief1_position = Chief of the US Forest Service
| parent_agency = [[United States Department of Agriculture]]
| child_agency =
| website = [http://www.fs.fed.us/ www.fs.fed.us]
| footnotes =
}}
'''The USDA Forest Service''' is an agency of the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] that administers the nation's 155 [[United States National Forest|national forests]] and 20 [[United States National Grassland|national grasslands]]. Major divisions of the agency include the National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, and the Research and Development branch.
== History ==
In 1876, Congress created the office of Special Agent in the Department of Agriculture to assess the state of the forests in the United States. [[Franklin B. Hough]] was appointed the head of the office. In 1881, the office was expanded into the newly-formed '''Division of Forestry'''. The [[Forest Reserve Act of 1891]] authorized withdrawing land from the public domain as "forest reserves," managed by the [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]]. In 1901, the Division of Forestry was renamed the '''Bureau of Forestry'''. The Transfer Act of 1905 transferred the management of forest reserves from the [[General Land Office]] of the Interior Department to the Bureau of Forestry, henceforth known as the USDA '''Forest Service'''. [[Gifford Pinchot]] was the first Chief Forester of the USFS.
Significant federal legislation affecting the Forest Service includes the [[Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act]], P.L. 86-517; the National Forest Management Act, P.L. 94-588; the [[National Environmental Policy Act]], P.L. 91-190; the [[Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act]], P.L. 95-313; the [[Forest and Rangelands Renewable Resources Planning Act]], P.L. 95-307; and the [[National Forest Management Act of 1976]].
In March 2008, the [[United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies|House Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies]] asked the [[Government Accountability Office|GAO]] to evaluate whether the Forest Service should be moved from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior, which already includes the [[National Park Service]], the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|Fish and Wildlife Service]], and the [[Bureau of Land Management]], managing some {{convert|438000000|acre|km2}} of public land.<ref>Christopher Lee, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/24/AR2008032402510.html "Forest Service May Move to Interior: Some See Agency As Out of Place Under the USDA"], ''Washington Post'', March 25, 2008</ref>
== Activities ==
[[Image:US-national-forest-service-lands.png|thumb|350px|left|More than 80% of the 193 million acres (780,000 sq km) of land managed by the National Forest Service is in the western states. This map shows NFS lands as a percentage of total land area in each state.<ref>[http://www.wildlandfire.com/docs/2007/western-states-data-public-land.htm Western States Data Public Land Acreage<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>]]
Across the United States, there are 155 [[United States National Forest|national forests]], organized into ranger districts employing [[district ranger]]s and other personnel. The districts construct and maintain trails, operate campgrounds, regulate [[grazing]], patrol [[wilderness area]]s, protect culturally significant heritage sites, and manage vegetation and [[wildlife]] [[Habitat (ecology)|habitat]]. The Forest Service also has seven regional research stations, including the International Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products Laboratory, that study the ecosystems of the national forests. The Forest Service also provides funding and technical assistance to non-federal land owners through a branch called State and Private Forestry.
Although a large volume of [[Lumber|timber]] is [[Logging|logged]] every year, not all [[National Forests]] are entirely forested. There are tidewater glaciers in the [[Tongass National Forest]] in [[Alaska]] and ski areas such as [[Alta, Utah]] in the [[Wasatch-Cache National Forest]]. In addition, the Forest Service is responsible for managing [[National Grassland]]s in the midwest. Furthermore, areas designated as wilderness by acts of [[U.S. Congress|Congress]], prohibit logging, mining, road and building construction and land leases for purposes of farming and or livestock grazing.
Since 1978, several [[President of the United States|Presidents]] have directed the USFS to administer [[U.S. National Monument|National Monuments]] inside of preexisting National Forests.
* [[Admiralty Island National Monument]] - Alaska
* [[Giant Sequoia National Monument]] - California
* [[Misty Fjords National Monument]] - Alaska
* [[Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument]] - Washington
* [[Newberry National Volcanic Monument]] - Oregon
* [[Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument]] - California (jointly with the [[Bureau of Land Management]])
The Forest Service also manages [[Grey Towers National Historic Site]] in [[Milford, Pennsylvania]], the home and estate of its first director, [[Gifford Pinchot]].
The U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement & Investigations unit (LEI), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a [[List of law enforcement agencies|federal law enforcement agency]] of the U.S. government. It is responsible for enforcement of federal laws and regulations governing national forest lands and resources. [[Special agent]]s are primarily used for investigations. [[Patrol]]s are done primarily by uniformed law enforcement officers, all of whom carry [[firearm]]s. The LEI also has [[Police dog|K-9]] and [[mounted police]] units.
== Controversies ==
[[Image:Smokey3.jpg|thumb|right|[[Smokey Bear]] poster]]
The history of the Forest Service has been fraught with controversy, as various interests and national values have grappled with the appropriate management of the many resources within the forests. These values and resources include [[grazing]], [[Lumber|timber]], [[mining]], [[recreation]], and wildlife habitat. Because of continuing development elsewhere, the large size of National Forests have made them de facto wildlife reserves for a number of rare and common species. In recent decades, the importance of mature forest for the [[spotted owl]] and a number of other species led to great changes in timber harvest levels.
In August 1944, to reduce the number of [[wildfire|forest fires]], the Forest Service and the [[Wartime Advertising Council]] began distributing fire education posters featuring a [[American Black Bear|Black Bear]]. The poster campaign was a success; the Black Bear would later be named "[[Smokey Bear]]," and would, for decades, be the "spokesbear" for the Forest Service. Smokey Bear has appeared in untold TV commercials; his popular catch phrase, "Only YOU can prevent forest fires", is one of the most widely recognized slogans in the United States. A recent study found that 95% of the people surveyed could complete the phrase when given the first few words.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/centennial/smokey.shtml |title= The Story of Smokey Bear |publisher=United States Forest Service |accessdate=2008-01-26}}</ref> Unfortunately, in certain fire-adapted ecosystems the ensuing decades of fire suppression unintentionally caused a buildup of fuels that replaced the historically natural fire regime of slow-burning, relatively cool fires with fast-burning, relatively hot wildfires in the fire-adapted forest lands across the nation.
In the 1990s, the agency was involved in scandal when it illegally provided surplus military aircraft to private contractors for use as [[airtanker]]s. (See [[U.S. Forest Service airtanker scandal]].)
Another controversial issue is the policy on road building within the National Forests. In 1999 President Clinton ordered a temporary moratorium on new road construction in the National Forests to "assess their ecological, economic, and social values and to evaluate long-term options for their management." [http://www.roadless.fs.fed.us/documents/chief_memorandum.htm] Five and half years later the Bush administration replaced this with a system where each state could petition the Forest Service to open forests in their territory to road building.
==See also==
*[[List of U.S. National Forests]]
*[[United States Chief Foresters]]
== References ==
<references/>
==External links==
===Management arm===
*{{cite web | title=USDA Forest Service | url=http://www.fs.fed.us/ | accessmonthday=November 23 | accessyear=2005}}
*[http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us U.S. Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory]
*[http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pwfsl U.S. Forest Service Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory]
*[http://thefederalregister.com/b.p/agency/Forest_Service/ Forest Service Meeting Notices and Rule Changes] from The Federal Register [http://thefederalregister.com/rss/agency/Forest_Service/ RSS Feed]
*[http://svinetfc4.fs.fed.us/clearinghouse/index.html FSGeodata Clearinghouse]: includes maps
* {{cite web | title=USDA State & Private Forestry, Northeastern Area | url=http://na.fs.fed.us/ | accessmonthday=November 29 | accessyear=2006}}
===Research arm===
*[http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/ Pacific Southwest Research Station]
*[http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/ Pacific Northwest Research Station]
*[http://www.fs.fed.us/rmrs/ Rocky Mountain Research Station]
*[http://www.srs.fs.fed.us/index.htm Southern Research Station]
*[http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/ Northern Research Station]
*[http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/ef/ Experimental Forests]
* {{cite web | title=USDA Forest Service Research Publications | url=http://treesearch.fs.fed.us/ | accessmonthday=January 23 | accessyear=2006}}
{{ES Government}}
[[Category:USDA Forest Service| ]]
[[Category:Forest services (national)]]
[[Category:Conservation in the United States]]
[[de:United States Forest Service]]
[[fr:Service national des forêts aux États-Unis d'Amérique]]
[[it:Servizio forestale degli Stati Uniti]]
[[pl:United States Forest Service]]