Temperate Forest Foundation: Soil Facts

Facts about forests in the United States. For more information (all links will open in a separate window):

National forests are America’s Great Outdoors. They encompass 191 million acres (77.3 million hectares) of land, which is an area equivalent to the size of Texas. [USFS]
National Forest: There are 155 national forests and 20 grasslands. The Forest Service manages public lands, known collectively as the National Forest System, located in 44 States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The lands comprise 8.5 percent of the total land area in the United States. [USFS]
About two-thirds (504 million acres) of U.S. forest is classes as timberland (forests capable of producing 20 cubic feet per acre of industrial wood annually and not legally reserved from timber harvest. 52 million acres are reserved for nontimber uses as parks or wilderness areas. [1997 USFS, GTR NC-219]
33 percent of all forest land is federally owned. USFS administers the largest portion of Federal forest land, 147 acres (59 percent).
The Wilderness system in the United States is 105,778,352 acres (2002). Alaska contains 58,182,216 of the total acres, which is about 56%. [NWPS]

Recreation (from USDA Forest Service facts and figures)

177 = Number of National Forests and Grasslands (155 forests, 22 grasslands) covering 192 million acres
42 = States, Territories, Commonwealths having National Forests and National Grasslands
644 = Wilderness Areas in the NWPS
20 = National Recreation Areas (NRA) (includes Land Between the Lakes NRA)
9 = National Scenic Areas (NSA)
7 = National Monuments, Volcanic Monuments and National Preserves (NM)
7 = Million acres of NRA, NSA and NM
136 = National Forest Scenic Byways (9,126 miles)
95 = Wild and Scenic Rivers (4,418 miles)
133,087 = Miles Trails
6,709 = Miles Scenic and Historic Trails
277,000 = Heritage Sites
4,300 = Campgrounds
23,000 = Developed Recreation Sites
135 = Alpine Ski Areas
1,496 = Picnic Sites
1,222 = Boating Sites
140 = Swimming Areas
18,000 = Recreation Facilities
14,900 = Recreation Residences
480 = Resorts

Over the past decade, forest products companies have spent more than $100 million on wildlife and environmental research. They employ more than 90 wildlife biologists.
As a result of careful forest management, the white-tailed deer population has grown from 4.5 million to over 16 million in the past 30 years; pronghorn antelope have gone from near extinction to more than 1 million today.
In the 1970's, scientists knew of only 200 pairs of spotted owls. By early 1992, they had found over 3,510 owl pairs. By 1994, researchers found over 600 pairs of spotted owls in a single small section of private forestland in Northern California, suggesting that California alone could be home to as many as 8,000 pairs of spotted owls.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Compiled by NAHB Economics Department.

13,127 board-feet of framing lumber
6,212 square feet of sheathing
13.97 tons of concrete
2,325 square feet of exterior siding material
3,100 square feet of roofing material
3,061 square feet of insulation
6,144 square feet of interior wall material
120 linear feet of ducting
15 windows
13 kitchen cabinets; 2 other cabinets
1 kitchen sink
12 interior doors
7 closet doors
2 exterior doors
1 patio door
2 garage doors.
1 fireplace
3 toilets; 2 bathtubs; 1 shower stall.
3 bathroom sinks.
2,085 square feet of flooring material such as carpeting, resilient sheet, resilient tile, ceramic tile or wood plank.
1 range; 1 refrigerator; 1 dishwasher; 1 garbage disposer; 1 range hood.
1 washer; 1 dryer.

Source: NAHB