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Welcome to the Southern Region
The Southern Region of the Forest Service is a dynamic collection of lands that encompasses 13 states and Puerto Rico. Known as Region 8 within the Forest Service, the Southern Region consists of 14 National Forest units and two special units. The Forest Service employs about 250 people at the Region 8 headquarters in Atlanta, and nearly 2,500 throughout the South.
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Find Your Forest
The Southern Region is pretty big, and we want to make sure you can easily find the National Forest website you're looking for! We've got a complete list to help you out, by state and territory!
Features
Our pick for the Kentucky Derby: Majestic White Oak
The Kentucky Derby is grounded in decades of tradition that many are familiar with—the racetrack, the garland of roses and the famous mint julep. In a nature-friendly twist of events, decades of tree growing also feeds the Derby tradition.
While making a mint julep is easy, making its signature ingredient—bourbon—is quite the opposite. The distinct flavor of bourbon comes from the grain, the yeast and the oak barrel that is used when aging the bourbon to perfection. This time-consuming process begins in the forest with a white oak tree.
Southern Area a Top Priority for National Wildfire Response
The last time the Southern Area was the top priority nationally was 18 years ago during Hurricane Katrina.
The South is burning. Over 15,700 wildfires have burned 505,179 acres since New Year’s Day 2023. Persistent dry conditions and high temperatures have created the right circumstances for extreme fire behavior at an unexpected time of year.
