United States Department of Agriculture Land Areas of the National Forest System As of September 30, 2018 Forest Service WO Lands FS-383 November 2018 United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Land Areas of the WO, Lands National Forest FS-383 System November 2018 As of September 30, 2018 Published by: USDA Forest Service 1400 Independence Ave., SW Washington, D.C. 20250-0003 Web site: https://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/lar-index.shtml Cover photo courtesy of: Chris Chavez Statistics are current as of: 10/15/2018 The National Forest System (NFS) is comprised of: 154 National Forests 58 Purchase Units 20 National Grasslands 7 Land Utilization Projects 17 Research and Experimental Areas 28 Other Areas NFS lands are found in 43 States as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. TOTAL NFS ACRES = 192,948,059 NFS lands are organized into: 9 Forest Service Regions 112 Administrative Forest or Forest-level units 506 Ranger District or District-level units The Forest Service administers 128 Wild and Scenic Rivers in 23 States and 446 National Wilderness Areas in 39 States. The FS also administers several other types of nationally-designated areas: 1 National Historic Area in 1 State 1 National Scenic Research Area in 1 State 1 Scenic Recreation Area in 1 State 1 Scenic Wildlife Area in 1 State 2 National Botanical Areas in 1 State 2 National Volcanic Monument Areas in 2 States 2 Recreation Management Areas in 2 States 6 National Protection Areas in 3 States 8 National Scenic Areas in 6 States 12 National Monument Areas in 6 States 12 Special Management Areas in 5 States 21 National Game Refuge or Wildlife Preserves in 12 States 22 National Recreation Areas in 20 States Table of Contents Acreage Calculation ............................................................................................................ ii Land Areas Report – Glossary of Terms ........................................................................... iii Common Abbreviations .......................................................................................................v Table Symbols .....................................................................................................................v Map – National Forests and Grasslands............................................................................. vi Table 1 – National and Regional Areas Summary ...............................................................1 Table 2 – Regional Areas Summary ....................................................................................2 Table 3 – Areas by Region...................................................................................................4 Table 4 – Areas by State ....................................................................................................18 Table 5 – Areas in Multiple States .....................................................................................53 Table 6 – NFS Acreage by State, Congressional District and County ..............................57 Table 7 – National Wilderness Areas by State ................................................................132 Table 8 – National Wilderness Areas in Multiple States .................................................186 Table 9 – National Wilderness State Acreage Summary .................................................189 Table 10 – National Primitive Areas by State .................................................................190 Table 11 – National Scenic Research Areas by State ......................................................191 Table 12 – National Scenic Areas by State ......................................................................192 Table 13 – National Wild and Scenic Rivers by State .....................................................193 Table 14 – National Wild and Scenic Rivers in Multiple States .....................................224 Table 15 – National Recreation Areas by State ...............................................................226 Table 16 – National Recreation Areas in Multiple States................................................229 Table 17 – National Game Refuge and Wildlife Preserves by State ...............................230 Table 18 – National Monument Areas by State ...............................................................232 Table 19 – National Volcanic Monument Areas by State ...............................................234 Table 20 – National Historic Areas by State ...................................................................235 Table 21 – National Forest Lands Annual Acreage (1891 to present) ............................236 Table 22 – National Protection Areas by State ................................................................238 Table 23 – Special Management Areas by State .............................................................239 Table 24 – National Botanical Areas by State .................................................................241 Table 25 – Recreation Management Areas by State ........................................................242 Table 26 – Scenic Recreation Areas by State ..................................................................243 Table 27 – Scenic Wildlife Areas by State ......................................................................244 Table 28 – NFS Acres by Administrative Unit by Region ..............................................245 i Acreage Calculation LAR table data is generated from the FS electronic Land Status Record System (LSRS) geodatabase. Spatial feature data is stored in the geodatabase in geographic coordinates (decimal degrees). LSRS data layers are overlaid in various combinations to generate data for the 28 LAR tables. Acreage values are projected and calculated from the geometries of the overlay features. Geographic coordinates are projected using the Alaska Albers Equal Area Conic projection for Region 10 (Alaska) and the North American Albers Equal Area Conic projection for the other 8 FS Regions. Spatial data in the LSRS is captured and processed using very small precision and tolerance parameters. However, LAR acres are reported as integer (whole) numbers. A comparison of summed acreages from different LAR tables may identify modest, and statistically insignificant differences. A small part of the difference can be attributed to spatial feature vertical alignment errors. However, the greater part of the difference is due to numeric rounding. Rounding error averages less than 0.000005% of the total acres. (± 10 in 192,000,000 acres). Which sum is right? Both are correct, though, in theory, the dataset with the fewest numbers subject to rounding is probably a more accurate accounting. Hence, Table 1 (National and Regional Areas Summary) is more accurate than the sum of the values from Table 6 (NFS Acreage by State, Congressional District and County). ii Land Areas Report – Glossary of Terms Total/Gross Acreage NFS Acreage Other Acreage Sum of NFS and non- Areas that fall within one Areas located within NFS NFS acreages. of the National Forest boundaries that are not System designations federally owned or described below. administered by the Forest Service. General Area Kinds National Forest System A nationally significant system of Federally owned units of forest, range, and related land consisting of national forests, purchase units, national grasslands, land utilization project areas, experimental forest areas, experimental range areas, designated experimental areas, other land areas, water areas, and interests in lands that are administered by the USDA Forest Service or designated for administration through the Forest Service. Also see Section 11 of Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-378, 88 Stat. 476, 16 U.S.C. 1609). National Forest A unit formally established and permanently set aside and reserved for National Forest purposes. Purchase Unit A unit designated by the Secretary of Agriculture or previously approved by the National Forest Reservation Commission for purposes of Weeks Law acquisition. National Grassland A unit designated by the Secretary of Agriculture and permanently held by the Department of Agriculture under Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act. iii Land Utilization Project A unit designated by the Secretary of Agriculture for conservation and utilization under Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act. Research and Experimental Area A unit reserved and dedicated by the Secretary of Agriculture for forest or range research and experimentation. National Preserve A unit established to protect and preserve scientific, scenic, geologic, watershed, fish, wildlife, historic, cultural, and recreational values; and to provide for multiple use and sustained yield of its renewable resources. Other Area An area administered by the Forest Service that is not included in one of the above groups. Region A large geographic area containing units of the National Forest System. National Forest System Special Designated Areas National Forest Wilderness Areas Areas designated by Congress as a part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. National Forest Primitive Areas Areas designated by the Chief of the USDA Forest Service as primitive areas. They are administered in the same manner as national wilderness areas, pending studies to determine suitability as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. National Wild and Scenic River Areas Areas designated by Congress as part of the National Wild and Scenic