Editing United States Forest Service (section)

=== Overview ===
[[File:US federal land.agencies.svg|thumb|260px|Map of all [[federal lands|federally owned land]] in the United States. The green represents the Forest Service.]]
As of 2019, FY 2020 Forest Service total budget authority is $5.14&nbsp;billion, a decrease of $815&nbsp;million from 2019. The budget includes $2.4&nbsp;billion for Wildland Fire Management, a decrease of $530&nbsp;million from the 2019 Annualized Continuing Resolution because the "fire fix" cap adjustment becomes available in FY 2020, while the FY 2019 Annualized Continuing Resolution includes $500&nbsp;million above the base as bridge to the first year of the fire fix.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/media_wysiwyg/usfs-fy-2020-budget-justification.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726024537/https://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/media_wysiwyg/usfs-fy-2020-budget-justification.pdf |archive-date=Jul 26, 2022 |url-status=dead |date=March 2019 |title=Forest Service FYI 2020 Budget Justification|website=USDA Forest Service}}</ref>

The Forest Service, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has 27,062 permanent, full-time employees as of Sept. 20, 2018, including 541 in the headquarters office and 26,521 in regional and field office.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.publish.csiro.au/wf/WF04006|title=Forest fire causes and extent on United States Forest Service lands|first=Scott L.|last=Stephens|date=September 12, 2005|journal=International Journal of Wildland Fire|volume=14|issue=3|pages=213–222|via=CSIRO Publishing |doi=10.1071/WF04006}}</ref>

The USDA Forest Service's mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.<ref name="overview">{{cite web|url=https://www.fs.fed.us/documents/USFS_An_Overview_0106MJS.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230005515/https://www.fs.fed.us/documents/USFS_An_Overview_0106MJS.pdf |archive-date=Dec 30, 2017 |url-status=dead|title=The U.S. Forest Service - An Overview|publisher=U.S. Forest Service}}</ref> Its motto is "Caring for the land and serving people."

As the lead federal agency in natural resource conservation, the Forest Service provides leadership in the protection, management, and use of the nation's forest, rangeland, and aquatic ecosystems. The agency's [[Ecosystem management|ecosystem approach to management]] integrates ecological, economic, and social factors to maintain and enhance the quality of the environment to meet current and future needs. Through implementation of land and resource management plans, the agency ensures sustainable ecosystems by restoring and maintaining species diversity and ecological productivity that helps provide recreation, water, timber, minerals, fish, wildlife, wilderness, and aesthetic values for current and future generations of people.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/opinion/20heinrich.html | work=The New York Times | title=Clear-Cutting the Truth About Trees | first=Bernd | last=Heinrich | date=December 20, 2009 | access-date=May 26, 2010}}</ref>

The everyday work of the Forest Service balances resource extraction, resource protection, and providing recreation. The work includes managing {{convert|193|e6acre|km2}} of national forest and grasslands, including {{convert|59|e6acre|km2}} of [[inventoried roadless area|roadless areas]]; 14,077 recreation sites; {{convert|143346|mi|km}} of trails; {{convert|374883|mi|km}} of roads; and the harvesting of 1.5&nbsp;billion trees per year.<ref name=overview/> Further, the Forest Service fought fires on {{convert|2.996|e6acre|km2}} of land in 2007.<ref name=overview/>

The Forest Service organization includes ranger districts, national forests, regions, research stations and research work units and the Northeastern Area Office for State and Private Forestry. Each level has responsibility for a variety of functions.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24884487|title=The United States Forest Service: Changing of the Guard|author1=Brown, Greg|author2=Harris, Charles C.|year=1992|journal=Natural Resources Journal|volume=32|issue=3|pages=449–466|jstor=24884487}}</ref>