National Forest Service
Logo of the U.S. Forest Service
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Flag of the U.S. Forest Service
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | February 1, 1905 |
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| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Headquarters |
Sidney R. Yates Building 1400 Independence Ave SW Washington, D.C. |
| Employees | c. 35,000 (FY16) 28,330 Permanent 4,488 Seasonal FY08 |
| Annual budget | $5.806 billion (FY08) |
| Minister responsible | |
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| Parent agency | U.S. Department of Agriculture |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes | |
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass 193 million acres (780,000 km2). Major divisions of the agency include the National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, Business Operations, and the Research and Development branch. Managing approximately 25% of federal lands, it is the only major national land agency that is outside the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The concept of the National Forests was born from Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation group, Boone and Crockett Club, due to concerns regarding Yellowstone National Park beginning as early as 1875. In 1876, Congress created the office of Special Agent in the Department of Agriculture to assess the quality and conditions of 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 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 United States Forest Service. Gifford Pinchot was the first United States Chief Forester in the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.
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