Forest Facts

• What do we use trees for? The majority of timber harvested in the United States goes into lumber production (53%), and pulp products (32%). Other uses include veneer and plywood (7%), and fuelwood (7%).

• Where are all the forests? In the United States, the majority of forestland is located in the Pacific Coast (including Alaska), and South regions; each has approximately 214 millions acres of forested area. The North region contains 171 million acres of forest, and the Rocky Mountain region has 151 million acres of forestland.

• How many kinds of trees are there? Currently, there are approximately 689 species of trees in the United States.

• Who takes care of the forests? Most of the forestland in the US (57%) is managed by private individuals and companies. The remaining 43% is public land managed by local, state, and national government agencies.

• How much forest do we have? The United States has 8% of all forest in the world, making it the fourth most forest-rich country with approximately 750 million acres of forestland.

• Recreation: Between private and public land, almost 86% of all forestland in the country is available for outdoor recreation, much of which is located in the west. Between the Pacific Coast and the Rocky Mountain regions there are 10.3 acres of forestland per person, and in the northeast and southeast regions of the country there are still 2.9 acres per person to enjoy.

• Other uses: In addition to forest products and recreation, our forests provide many additional benefits. For example, American forests provide valuable habitat to thousands of species of animals, more than half of the country's drinking water originates in forests, and the total amount of carbon stored by our trees offsets around 10% of US emissions from burning fossil fuels.

• Conservation efforts: 20% of US forestland is under some type of conservation program, which is almost twice the world average of 11%.

Mila Alvarez. "The State of America's Forests". Society of American Foresters: 2007.