This site contains information about the history of the United States Forest Service, in the Department of Agriculture. We have incorporated original documents and photographs, as well as bibliographic references. The site is continually expanded and new materials added.

The USDA Forest Service maintains a historical reference collection at the Forest History Society, in Durham, North Carolina. You can search the collections database for information on timber management, range allotments and grazing fees, wilderness areas, National Forests and Grasslands, agency research projects, the Civilian Conservation Corps, women in forestry, administrative practices, agency reorganization, and many other topics. The Society is a nonprofit educational institution dedicated to the advancement of historical understanding of human interaction with the forest environment.

In addition to caring for the USDA Forest Service collection, the Forest History Society maintains bibliographic and archival databases. Their rich resources include approximately 30,000 photographs, including many of Forest Service activities. In February of 2007, more than 6,000 Forest Service images from the Eastern Region (Region 9) were incorporated into the Society's image database, with more to come.

A historian in the Washington Office of the Forest Service provides historical analysis for the chief and staff as well as assistance to the public.

2005 marked a year-long celebration of the centennial of U.S. Forest Service management of the national forests within the Department of Agriculture. Several special productions were created for the occasion.