You may know some of our country's most famous national parks by name—Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Shenandoah National Park, Everglades National Park—but chances are you live much closer to a national forest. These often overlooked but just as splendid public lands are far more numerous than their national park counterparts and much more accessible to most.
Take a look at five things you never knew about U. They may seem similar at first glance, but the history, use, and management of national parks and national forests are actually quite different.
The Forest Reserve Act in allowed presidents to establish forests reserves, which are now known as national forests. The national park service, managed by the Department of the Interior, aims to preserve and protect unique places. These lands are altered as little as possible to safeguard significant historical, cultural, and natural sites across the country. Our national forests, on the other hand, are managed by the Department of Agriculture for many purposes, including resource productivity and conservation.
But some go as a low as 5-days, while others go as high as days. They also have rules on how far away you have to relocate from your previous camp, and how long you have to wait until you can camp in the same place again…. Forest Service has a short list of rules on what you cannot do while camping, or occupying space in a national forest….
Usually the national forests located near high density population areas, such as Angeles National Forest and San Bernardino National Forest tend to enforce their maximum camping limits more diligently. The reason why is because they know there are a lot of city-based vehicle dwellers who need a free place to live. But Forests and Grasslands located well away from big cities often remain lax at enforcing occupancy limits. They seem more concerned about illegal hunting, illegal campfires, tree cutting, or off-road vehicles.
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Volume Article Contents Abstract. Literature Cited. Corresponding author: lcerveny fs. Oxford Academic. Joshua W R Baur. Select Format Select format. Permissions Icon Permissions. Management and Policy Implications. Table 1. Types of nonrecreational campers and definitions.
Nonrecreational camper types. Open in new tab. Open in new tab Download slide. Table 2. Frequency of encounters with nonrecreational campers by region. US Forest Service Region. Once a week or more percent. A few times a year percent. Never percent. Table 3. Trends in encounters with nonrecreational campers by region.
Increasing percent. About the same percent. Decreasing percent. Fluctuating percent. Encounters with nonrecreational camper types by season. Table 4. Solitary Antisocial. Transient Retirees. Homeless adults. Communal groups. Forest workers. None of these federal land management agencies know just how many people are using public lands residentially, partly because it would be impossible to find and count them all, and partly because numbers fluctuate seasonally due to weather conditions. But according to a recent USFS survey, non-recreational camping is on the rise.
The woods can be an attractive option to people who want to live off the grid, or a last resort for those with nowhere else to go. In the past, public lands have specifically been used to house the homeless—like the Umpqua National Forest in southern Oregon, which established a campground exclusively for homeless individuals and families in The site, named Blodgett, screened residents and arranged limited services, like portable toilets and a school bus service.
At the time, an optimistic Forest Service spokeswoman told the New York Times , "If it works, we may try it elsewhere. Blodgett closed after a year in operation, having served about people. Fire risk is one thing: Ninety percent of wildfires in the US are caused by humans, and of those, unattended campfires are the most common trigger.
Campfire bans are imposed at times of extremely high fire danger, but according to Boehm, these are difficult to enforce when a forest is full of dispersed, long-term campers. Human waste and trash are another concern.
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