By the Numbers
What is the National Forest System? This is all of the lands managed by the Forest Service, including national forests and grasslands.
How many national forests? 154
How many national grasslands? 20
How Many Acres?
In the National Forest System: 193,145,865
Of wilderness areas: 37 million
Reforested annually: 189,000
Still needed to be reforested: 3.5 million (this amount fluctuates depending on the number of fires and other disturbances)
Suitable for timber management: 49 million
Are treated to reduce the risk of wildfire: 4 million every year
Of livestock grazing land: 74 million acres
Burned annually from wildfire: 2 million acres
How much timber volume is sold annually? 3 billion board feet from the National Forest System.
What is the average annual timber growth rate? 2% across the National Forest System, broken down by area, the rate ranges from approximately 1% in Alaska to 2.8% in the South. This is the volume of timber grown on national forests before accounting for fires or other sources of tree mortality.
How many trees are planted annually? In partnership with National Forest Foundation, the Forest Service plants an average of 5 million trees annually.
What is the average timber mortality rate? 1.4% per year, with rates ranging from 0.5% to 3.2% per year across all Forest Service regions.
What is the growth to drain ratio average? 1.52 across the National Forest System, ranging from the negative in areas heavily affected by fire and insects to a high positive in the South. In fact, the volume of timber lost to mortality ranges from two to eight times larger than the volume of timber harvested on national forests.
What is a growth to drain ratio? This is a calculation of how much timber volume that is being grown divided by the amount of harvest and mortality. A number >1 shows that more is being grown than harvested.
How many Americans get clean drinking water from national forests? 80 million
How many jobs are related to the production of minerals and energy on National Forest System lands? 37,800 and $7.63 billion to the GDP.
How much coal and gas is produced from National Forest System lands? 43 million tons of coal and 609 million gallons of liquid natural gas managed in 2,844 oil and gas leases.
How many professional wildland firefighters work for the Forest Service? More than 11,000.
How many wildfires grow into large, complex fires? 2%
What percentage of wildfires are contained during initial attack operations? Forest Service firefighters successfully contain 98% of new fire starts within 24 hours.
How many structures were destroyed by wildfire in 2024? 4,500 across America.
What portion of the federal wildland firefighting resources does the Forest Service manage? 70% and nearly all of the federal aviation and logistical support contracts.
How many people visit national forests and grassland? 160 million each year, most Americans living within 2 hours of access.
How many trails are there? 164,000 miles to hike; bike; snowshoe; or ride an ATV, snowmobile, or horse on in nearly every state.
How many wild and scenic rivers? 5,000 miles of free-flowing rivers and streams.
How many national historic sites does the Forest Service manage? 1, Grey Towers
What famous characters work for the Forest Service? Woodsy Owl and Smokey Bear.
Information current as of August 1, 2025