today's Featured List/December 14, 2020
The United States has 154 protected areas known as national forests, covering 188,336,179 acres (762,169 km2; 294,275 sq mi).
National forests are managed by the Forest Service, an agency of the Department of Agriculture. The first national forest was established as the Yellowstone Park Timber and Land Reserve on March 30, 1891, then in the Department of the Interior. In 1897, the Organic Act provided purposes for which forest reserves could be established, including to protect the forest, secure water supplies, and supply timber. By 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt had more than doubled the forest-reserve acreage, and Congress responded by limiting the president's ability to proclaim new reserves. The National Forest System underwent a major reorganization in 1908, and in 1911 Congress authorized new additions to the system under the authority of the Weeks Act. There is at least one national forest in all but ten states. Alaska has the most land in national forests, with 21.9 million acres (8.9 million ha), including Tongass National Forest (pictured), the largest by area in the country. (Full list...)
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