About the Area

The Eastern Region is one of nine Forest Service administrative regions, consisting of 17 national forests and one national tallgrass prairie. It is also home to the Forest Service’s largest State, Private, and Tribal Forestry program, collaborating with Tribes, States, communities, Federal agencies, private landowners, and other partners to protect, conserve, and manage forests and community trees across 20 States and the District of Columbia.

Though the Weeks Act of 1911 authorized the federal government to purchase lands that formed much of the national forests within the Eastern Region, these lands had been cared for and honored for thousands of years prior by Tribes with homelands connected to these forest lands. The 89 federally recognized Tribal Nations in the Eastern Region have legal rights and significant interests in the management of national forest lands. We strive to honor our responsibilities to ensure Tribal rights and interests are incorporated into our care of these lands.

The Eastern Region, with the largest number of urban areas of the nine Forest Service Regions, is also home to the Urban Connections program which provides meaningful nature-based educational programming and experiences that connect residents to the green space around them and to their national forests. Listening to and learning about the needs of urban communities and how the Forest Service can effectively partner to ensure our public lands are cared for and managed for all is a key component of the program.