Meet the
Forest Service
What is the Forest Service?
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service is a Federal agency that
manages public lands in national forests and grasslands. The Forest Service
is also the largest forestry research organization in the world, and
provides technical and financial assistance to
state and private forestry agencies.
Gifford Pinchot, the first Chief of the
Forest Service, summed up the purpose of the Forest Service—"to provide the
greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people in the long run."
Learn about our
mission, motto, vision,
and guiding principles or read our
strategic plan.
When and why was the
Forest Service established?
Congress established the Forest
Service in 1905 to provide quality water and timber for the Nation's
benefit. Over the years, the public has expanded the list of what they want
from national forests and grasslands. Congress responded by directing the
Forest Service to manage national forests for additional multiple uses and
benefits and for the sustained yield of renewable resources such as water,
forage, wildlife, wood, and recreation. Multiple use means managing
resources under the best combination of uses to benefit the American people
while ensuring the productivity of the land and protecting the quality of
the environment.
National forests are America's
great outdoors. They encompass 193 million acres (aprox. 78 million
hectares) of land, which is an area equivalent to the size of Texas.
National forests provide opportunities for recreation in open spaces and
natural environments. With more and more people living in urban areas,
national forests are becoming more important and valuable to Americans.
People enjoy a wide variety of activities on national forests, including
backpacking in remote, unroaded wilderness areas, mastering an all-terrain
vehicle over a challenging trail, enjoying the views along a
scenic byway, or
fishing in a great trout stream,
to mention just a few.
What does the Forest
Service do?
The job of Forest Service
managers is to help people share and enjoy the forest, while conserving the
environment for generations yet to come. Some activities are compatible.
Some are not. You, as a concerned citizen, play a key role. By expressing
your views to Forest Service managers, you will help them balance all of
these uses and make decisions in the best interest of the forest and the
public.
The Forest Service motto, "Caring
for the Land and Serving People," captures the spirit of
our mission, which
we accomplish through five main activities:
