The United States encompasses nearly 2.3 billion acres, an area so vast that visualizing its makeup of cities, farms, deserts, and mountains is difficult. Understanding how much of this expanse is covered by trees requires precise measurement, which reveals the scale of this immense natural resource. Data shows that the country’s forests represent a substantial portion of the total land area, a figure that has remained stable over the last century.
How Tree Cover is Measured
Calculating the total area covered by trees relies on a specific, nationally consistent definition of “forest land.” The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) manages the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program, which serves as the official national census of trees and forests. FIA defines forest land as an area of at least one acre in size and at least 120 feet wide, stocked by trees to an extent of at least 10 percent canopy cover. This standard ensures that small, scattered clusters of trees and urban parks are generally excluded from the national total, focusing instead on tracts managed for forestry or those in a natural state.
The program relies on a statistically valid sampling method, employing permanent plots measured annually to track the status and trends of forest resources across all 50 states. This systematic approach allows foresters and scientists to differentiate between actual forest land use and simple tree cover. The resulting data is then categorized into subcategories, such as timberland available for wood product utilization, and reserved forest land, which is legally protected from harvesting.
The Total Forest Area
By applying this precise methodology, official figures show that the United States is covered by approximately 766 million acres of forest land. This immense area translates to roughly 36 percent of the nation’s total land area being forested.
The ownership of this vast resource is split between public and private entities, which influences how the land is managed. Over half of all forest land (about 56 percent) is held by private owners, including corporations and millions of individual families. The remaining 44 percent is publicly owned, with the federal government managing the largest share of this public acreage, accounting for about 31 percent of the total national forest area. This distribution of ownership creates distinct management patterns across the country.
Where US Forests Are Concentrated
The national average of 36 percent masks massive regional variations in forest density, with tree cover heavily concentrated in certain geographic areas. Broadly, the eastern half of the country is characterized by private ownership and predominantly broadleaf forests, while the western regions feature more public land and coniferous species. The most heavily forested regions include the Pacific Coast, the Northeast, and the South, which is often referred to as the nation’s “wood basket” due to its high productivity.
The Northeast contains states like Maine and New Hampshire, which are among the most heavily forested in the nation. Conversely, the arid conditions of the Great Plains and the Southwest result in regions with very low forest density. States such as North Dakota, Nebraska, and South Dakota are identified as the least heavily forested, illustrating the sharp contrast between the humid East and the drier interior West. Western forests, which are generally under public management, are often concentrated in mountainous areas, while the largely private eastern forests are scattered more broadly across the landscape.
The Role of Forests in the US Economy and Environment
The nation’s forests serve a dual purpose, providing substantial economic value and performing ecological functions. Economically, the forests support a massive timber and wood products industry, and they also drive a significant outdoor recreation and tourism sector. Visitor spending on national forest lands alone contributes more than $13 billion annually to the U.S. economy and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Ecologically, the benefits are profound and far-reaching. US forests are highly effective at carbon sequestration, removing enough atmospheric carbon dioxide to reduce the nation’s annual net emissions by approximately 11 percent. They also play a fundamental role in water management, as over half of the nation’s total water supply originates on forest lands. These forested watersheds provide clean drinking water for tens of millions of Americans and help control erosion and filter air pollutants.