Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.

Forest Service

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Environmental Policy Logo on Ballotpedia.png
State environmental policy
U.S. environmental policy
Endangered species policy
State endangered species
Federal land policy
Environmental terms
Public Policy Logo-one line.png

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is a federal agency tasked with overseeing national forests and grasslands. These areas comprised 193 million acres in 44 states and Puerto Rico as of 2014. The Forest Service also serves as a forestry research organization and is a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.[1]

In fiscal year 2024, the agency employed the equivalent of 33,284 full-time employees. The fiscal year 2022 budget for the agency totaled $8.3 billion.[2]

History

In 1876, Congress formed a special office within the Department of Agriculture to assess all U.S. forests. In 1881, the office became the Division of Forestry, a predecessor to the U.S. Forest Service. The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 authorized the president to designate federal land as forest reserves, which came to be called national forests. Initially, the Department of the Interior assumed responsibility for forest reserves. In 1905, authority over these reserves was transferred to the newly created Forest Service, which was formed under the Department of Agriculture.[3]

Structure

Administrative State
Administrative State Icon Gold.png
Read more about the administrative state on Ballotpedia.

Mission

The Forest Service's mission statement is as follows:[2]

“ Our mission at the Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.[4] ”
—U.S. Forest Service

Function

The Forest Service is charged with the following general responsibilities:[5]

  1. Protection and management of the lands and resources that comprise the National Forest System
  2. Research in areas such as "forestry, rangeland and watershed management; fish and wildlife conservation; social sciences; and forest resource utilization"
  3. Assistance to private landowners, state and local government agencies, businesses and other organizations in the protection and management of non-federal forest, range and watershed lands
  4. Advisory to public and private entities to "improve conditions in wildland/urban interfaces and rural areas"
  5. Wildfire prevention and management
  6. Policy development "for the protection and sound management of forest resources throughout the world."

Staff

The chief of the U.S. Forest Service is a career federal employee appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, who is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Tom Schultz is the chief of the U.S. Forest Service, as of February 2024. For a listing of current staff, see this website.

Regional offices

The table below lists the regional offices of the Forest Service as of February 2024.[6]

Regional offices of the Forest Service
Office Address Phone number Website
Alaska Region (R10) PO Box 21628
709 W. 9th Street
Juneau, AK 99802-1628		 (907) 586-8806 Link
Eastern Region (R9) 626 East Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53202		 (414) 297-3600 Link
Intermountain Region (R4) Federal Building
324 25th Street
Ogden, UT 84401		 (801) 625-5605 Link
Northern Region (R1) 26 Fort Missoula Road
Missoula, MT 59804		 (406) 329-3511 Link
Pacific Northwest Region (R6) 1220 SW 3rd Ave.
Portland, OR 97204		 (503) 808-2468 Link
Pacific Southwest Region (R5) 1323 Club Drive
Vallejo, CA 94592		 (707) 562-8737 Link
Rocky Mountain Region (R2) 1617 Cole Boulevard, Building 17
Lakewood, CO 80401		 (303) 275-5350 Link
Southern Region (R8) 1720 Peachtree Road, NW
Atlanta, GA 30309		 (404) 347-4400 Link
Southwestern Region (R3) 333 Broadway SE
Albuquerque, NM 87102		 (505) 842-3292 Link
Source: U.S. Forest Service, "Regional Offices," accessed February 27, 2024

Budget and finance

The table below summarizes Forest Service appropriations and its equivalent of full-time employees for fiscal years 2021-2025.[2]

Forest Service appropriations and FTEs, FY 2021-2025 ($ in thousands)
Fiscal year Appropriations FTEs
FY 2021 $8,565,672 29,254
FY 2022 $16,862,015 29,100
FY 2023 $11,256,398 31,421
FY 2024 (estimated) $10,289,048 31,325
FY 2025 (requested) $10,959,320 31,892
Sources: U.S. Forest Service, "Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Justification," accessed June 26, 2025

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms U.S. Forest Service. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Forest Service - Google News

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ U.S. Forest Service, "How We Operate," accessed August 19, 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 U.S. Forest Service, "Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Justification," accessed June 26, 2025
  3. ↑ U.S. Forest Service, "Our History," accessed August 19, 2014
  4. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  5. ↑ U.S. Forest Service, "What We Do," accessed August 19, 2014
  6. ↑ U.S. Forest Service, "Regional Offices," accessed February 27, 2024
v • e
The Administrative State
MainThe Administrative State Project Badge.png
Pillars
Reporting
Laws
Administrative Procedure Act • Antiquities Act • Civil Service Reform Act • Clayton Antitrust Act • Communications Act of 1934 • Congressional Review Act • Electronic Freedom of Information Act • Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 • Federal Housekeeping Statute • Federal Reserve Act • Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 • Freedom of Information Act • Government in the Sunshine Act • Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 • Information Quality Act • Interstate Commerce Act • National Labor Relations Act • Paperwork Reduction Act • Pendleton Act • Privacy Act of 1974 • Regulatory Flexibility Act • REINS Act • REINS Act (Wisconsin) • Securities Act of 1933 • Securities Exchange Act of 1934 • Sherman Antitrust Act • Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act • Truth in Regulating Act • Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Cases
Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner • A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States • Association of Data Processing Service Organizations v. Camp • Auer v. Robbins • Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council • Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe • Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Standard Oil Company of California • Field v. Clark • Food and Drug Administration v. Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation • Humphrey's Executor v. United States • Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) v. Chadha • J.W. Hampton Jr. & Company v. United States • Lucia v. SEC • Marshall v. Barlow's • Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency • Mistretta v. United States • National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) v. Sebelius • National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning Company • National Labor Relations Board v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. • Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan • Securities and Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corporation • Skidmore v. Swift & Co. • United States v. Lopez • United States v. Western Pacific Railroad Co. • Universal Camera Corporation v. National Labor Relations Board • Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council • Wayman v. Southard • Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service • Whitman v. American Trucking Associations • Wickard v. Filburn • Wiener v. United States
Terms
Adjudication (administrative state) • Administrative judge • Administrative law • Administrative law judge • Administrative state • Arbitrary-or-capricious test • Auer deference • Barrier to entry • Bootleggers and Baptists • Chevron deference (doctrine) • Civil servant • Civil service • Code of Federal Regulations • Codify (administrative state) • Comment period • Compliance costs • Congressional Record • Coordination (administrative state) • Deference (administrative state) • Direct and indirect costs (administrative state) • Enabling statute • Ex parte communication (administrative state) • Executive agency • Federal law • Federal Register • Federalism • Final rule • Formal rulemaking • Formalism (law) • Functionalism (law) • Guidance (administrative state) • Hybrid rulemaking • Incorporation by reference • Independent federal agency • Informal rulemaking • Joint resolution of disapproval (administrative state) • Major rule • Negotiated rulemaking • Nondelegation doctrine • OIRA prompt letter • Organic statute • Pragmatism (law) • Precautionary principle • Promulgate • Proposed rule • Publication rulemaking • Regulatory budget • Regulatory capture • Regulatory dark matter • Regulatory impact analysis • Regulatory policy officer • Regulatory reform officer • Regulatory review • Rent seeking • Retrospective regulatory review • Risk assessment (administrative state) • Rulemaking • Separation of powers • Significant regulatory action • Skidmore deference • Statutory authority • Substantive law and procedural law • Sue and settle • Sunset provision • Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions • United States Code • United States Statutes at Large
Bibliography
Agencies
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Forest_Service&oldid=10421890"