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. The Forest Service manages 193 million acres (780,000 km2) of land. Major divisions of the agency include the Chief's Office, National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, Business Operations, and Research and Development. The agency manages about 25% of federal lands and is the only major national land management agency not part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. The science of forestry has elements that belong to the biological, physical, social, political and managerial sciences. Forest management plays an essential role in the creation and modification of habitats and affects ecosystem services provisioning.
Forestry laws govern activities in designated forest lands, most commonly with respect to forest management and timber harvesting. Forestry laws generally adopt management policies for public forest resources, such as multiple use and sustained yield. Forest management is split between private and public management, with public forests being sovereign property of the State. Forestry laws are now considered an international affair.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, recreational trails, and recreation areas as well as managing minerals, wildlife, and forestry throughout the state. The agency is divided into six divisions - Ecological & Water Resources, Enforcement, Fish & Wildlife, Forestry, Lands & Minerals, and Parks & Trails.
Yale School of the Environment (YSE) is a professional school of Yale University. It was founded to train foresters, and now trains environmental students through four 2-year degree programs, two 10-month mid-career programs, and a 5-year PhD program. Still offering forestry instruction, the school has the oldest graduate forestry program in the United States.
The California Department of Conservation is a department within the government of California, belonging to the California Natural Resources Agency. With a team of scientists, engineers, environmental experts, and other specialists, the Department of Conservation administers a variety of programs vital to California's public safety, environment and economy. The department's mission is to manage California's working lands. It regulates oil, natural gas and geothermal wells; studies and maps earthquakes and other geologic phenomena; maps and classifies areas containing mineral deposits; ensures reclamation of land used for mining; and administers agricultural and open-space land conservation programs. A division within the department dedicated to encouraging beverage container recycling has been moved into the newly created Department of Resources Recovery and Recycling (CalRecycle). Despite the similar name, the Department of Conservation should not be confused with the California Conservation Corps, another department within the Natural Resources Agency, which provides work experience for young adults. The Department of Conservation often collaborates with its federal equivalents, such as the U.S. Geological Survey.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution. NJDEP now has a staff of approximately 2,850.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set policy for the WDNR. The WDNR is led by the Secretary, who is appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin. The WDNR develops regulations and guidance in accordance with laws passed by the Wisconsin Legislature. It administers wildlife, fish, forests, endangered resources, air, water, waste, and other issues related to natural resources. The central office of the WDNR is located in downtown Madison, near the state capitol.
The California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) is a state cabinet-level agency in the government of California. The institution and jurisdiction of the Natural Resources Agency is provided for in California Government Code sections 12800 and 12805, et seq. The Agency has six departments, 10 conservancies, 17 boards and commissions, three councils, and one urban park in Los Angeles that consists of two museums, the California Science Center and the California African American museum. Through its 25 departments, conservancies and commissions, the Natural Resources Agency is responsible for protecting prehistory history, natural landscapes and cultural sites, monitoring and stewarding state lands and waterways, and regulating fish and game use, as well as private lands and the intersection with federal lands and waters.
In the state of New Jersey, the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry is an administrative division of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. In its most visible role, the Division is directly responsible for the management and operation of New Jersey's public park system which includes 42 state parks, 11 state forests, 3 recreation areas, and more than 50 historic sites and districts. However, its duties also include protecting state and private lands from wildfire, managing forests, educating the public about environmental stewardship and natural resources, as well as growing trees to maintain and restore forests in rural and urban areas, and to preserve the diversity of the trees within the forests.
A "Common Important Forest" in India is a forest governed by local communities in a way compatible with sustainable development. Such forests are typically called village forests or panchayat forests, reflecting the fact that the administration and resource use of the forest occurs at the village and panchayat levels. Hamlets, villages and communities of villages may actually administer such a forest. Such community forests are usually administered by a locally elected body, usually called the Forest Protection Committee, Village Forest Committee or the Village Forest Institution. Such committees are known as Van Panchayats in the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand, Forest Co-operative Societies in Himachal Pradesh and Van Samrakshan Samitis in Andhra Pradesh. Legislation pertaining to communal forests vary from state to state, but typically the state government retains some administrative control over matters like staff appointment, and penalization of offenders. Such forests typically conform to the IUCN Category VI Protected Areas, but protection may be enforced by the local communities or the government depending on local legislation. Maharashtra is the state with the most forest land while Haryana has the least.
The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is a part of the Hawaii state government dedicated to managing, administering, and exercising control over public lands, water resources and streams, ocean waters, coastal areas, minerals, and other natural resources of the State of Hawaiʻi. The mission of the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources is to "enhance, protect, conserve and manage Hawaiʻi's unique and limited natural, cultural and historic resources held in public trust for current and future generations of the people of Hawaiʻi nei, and its visitors, in partnership with others from the public and private sectors." The organization oversees over 1.3 million acres of land, beaches, and coastal waters and 750 miles of coastal land.
Private landowner assistance program (PLAP) is a class of government assistance program available throughout the U.S. for landowners interested in maintaining, developing, improving and protecting wildlife on their property. Each state provides various programs that assist landowners in agriculture, forestry and conserving wildlife habitat. This helps landowners in the practice of good land stewardship and provides multiple benefits to the environment. Some states offer technical assistance which includes:
The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) was established in 1914 to prevent and suppress forest fires and reforest bare lands. Since its inception, the agency has grown and evolved to encompass other protection and management duties:
Starting in 1876, and undergoing a series of name changes, the U.S. Forest Service grew to protect and use millions of acres of forest on public land. Gifford Pinchot, an early advocate of scientific forestry, along with President Theodore Roosevelt and conservation organizations, led the effort to manage forest for the public good.
The Nebraska Forest Service is the state forestry agency for the state of Nebraska. The Nebraska Forest Service serves the citizens on Nebraska by operating with the mission to provide services and education to the people of Nebraska for the protection, utilization and enhancement of the State's tree, forest and other natural resources. Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Nebraska Forest Service is embedded within the Institution of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The North Carolina Forest Service, formerly known as the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources is a North Carolina state government agency responsible for providing land management assistance to landowners. The agency's primary responsibility is wildland fire control on all state and privately owned land in North Carolina, United States. The Service was a Division of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources until July 2011 and is now part of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) is the forest management agency for the U.S. state of Alabama. It was created as a state agency by an act of the Alabama Legislature in 1924. Its general mission is protecting Alabama's forests from wildfire, insects, and diseases; assisting landowners practice responsible forest management on their private property; and educating the general public about the value of Alabama's forests. It established the Alabama Champion Tree Program in 1970 and continues to maintain it.
The Mississippi Forestry Commission (MFC) is a State Agency in Mississippi with headquarters in Jackson. The Forestry Commission was authorized to:
prevent, control, and extinguish forest fires; enforce laws pertaining to the protection of forests and woodlands in the state; and encourage forest and tree planting for the production of a wood crop and other beneficial purposes.
The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) is a government agency in the executive branch state of Montana in the United States with responsibility for ensuring sustainable development of the state's land, mineral, natural gas, oil, timber, water, and other resources.
