July 13–19 is National Forest Week, an annual celebration of America’s national forests. Now administered by the U.S. Forest Service, national forests were established during the presidential administration of Benjamin Harrsion in 1891 with an eventual mission to “emphasize not only resource preservation, but other kinds of use as well.”
Full of the kinds of outdoor activities you’d expect from state and national parks, national forests are a separate system within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While national parks are meant to be as untouched by human activity as possible, national forests allow for a number of uses, including timber, grazing, hunting and fishing, and other recreational uses, like motorcycle and ATV trails, things you won’t find in a national park.
Tags: environment • environmental education • national forests • Nature • Outdoor Education • Science • STEAM • STEM • STEM/STEAM • us forest service