Institute Index: The attack on National Forests

By Chris Kromm / April 23, 2026

The U.S. Forest Service manages 154 national forests across the country covering more than 193 million acres, outlined in green. (Map: reddit)

Year the U.S. Forest Service was created to manage and protect the country's National Forests: 1905

Number of National Forests the Forest Service oversees across the country: 155

Number of National Forests in Southern states: 31

Number of acres covered by National Forests in the South: 13.6 million

Economic value of outdoor recreation related to National Forests nationally: $13 billion

Amount spent annually by recreational paddlers in the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests in North Carolina alone: $3.2 million

Amount of people nationally who use water that comes from National Forest land: 19.6 million

According to one scientific study, amount that water treatment costs would increase in the Southeastern U.S. for every 1% reduction in forests: 1.7%

Number of U.S. Forest Service research facilities that will be closed under a "reorganization" plan announced by the Trump administration in March 2026: 57

Percent of the Forest Service's research facilities that represents: 74%

Number of research facilities that will be closed in Mississippi alone: 5

Of the Forest Service's nine regional offices, percent that will be closed under Trump's order: 100%

Number of Forest Service staff lost during the first half of 2025 due to cuts by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE: 5,860

Year that the "roadless rule" was adopted with bipartisan support to protect 58 millions acres of National Forest land from roads, construction, and other development: 2001

Number of acres of National Forest in the South that are protected by the "roadless rule": 600,000

Month that the Trump administration announced its intention to repeal the "roadless rule": August 2025

Month that the Trump administration announced its a revision to the U.S. Forest Service Oil and Gas Leasing Rule to expand oil and gas development in National Forests: January 2026

Percent of U.S. residents who said in a National Forest Foundation poll that funding of National Forests should not be cut, even with federal budget problems: 81

Percent of Republicans who said this: 74

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