III.

United States Forests

Three major forest areas exist in the United States. The western forests of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast are coniferous and contain Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, western white pine, Engelmann spruce, and white fir. More than half of the softwood lumber yield of the United States comes from the productive Douglas fir forests of the Pacific Northwest. The South Atlantic and Gulf states account for most of the remaining softwood lumber, chiefly from longleaf, shortleaf, loblolly, and slash pines. Hardwoods, yielding about one-fourth of the total production, are found in the eastern half of the United States, with particularly dense stands in the area surrounding the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys. Among the many hardwood species are oaks, black walnut, yellow poplar, and sugar maple.

More than one-fourth of the forest area of the United States is under the administration of the Forest Service. Beginning in 1891 with a single area in Wyoming, the National Forest System had by the late 1980s expanded to more than 77 million hectares (191 million acres) in 44 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

The earliest national forests, called forest reserves, were established through reservation of public lands. Present national forests, whose boundaries are established by Congress, cover areas that include about 17 percent privately held land, which the federal government is acquiring gradually. Almost every state has a state forester, whose duties involve administration and protection of state forestlands (see Forests, National and State).