Who owns Idaho’s forest lands?

Most of Idaho’s forest lands are owned by government entities

Forest lands are designated when at least 10% of the land is covered by trees.  Of the 21.5 million acres of total forest lands in Idaho, most of it -- about 86% -- is owned and managed by government entities.  The rest -- about 14% -- is owned by private entities.

The graphic from 2015, the most recent and available data, shows the percentage ownership of Idaho’s 21.5 million acres of forests lands.  More than 3/4ths of Idaho’s forest lands are owned and managed by the US Forest Service, also known as the National Forest System or NFS.

 

Forestland ownership data by acres

This table below highlights the total acres (in thousands of acres) and uses on all owner-classified forestlands in Idaho. Data comes from the USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis EVALIDator, 2015, the most recent and available data.

OWNERSHIP ALL CLASSES     LAND USE - MAJOR  
Thousands of Acres Total Timberland Reserved Other
  Forest Land   Forest Land Forest Land
         
TOTAL 21,589 16,532 3,771 1,287
National Forest System 16,309 11,951 3,682 676
National Park Service 58 0 58 0
Bureau of Land Mgmt 875 577 18 280
Dept of Defense 41 25 0 17
State 1,245 1,123 12 110
Private 3,060 2,856 0 204
         
Percent of State Total [unadjusted for ROADLESS]        
TOTAL 100% 100% 100% 100%
National Forest System 76% 72% 98% 53%
National Park Service 0% 0% 2% 0%
Bureau of Land Mgmt 4% 3% 0% 22%
Dept of Defense 0% 0% 0% 1%
State 6% 7% 0% 9%
Private 14% 17% 0% 16%

*low productivity Forest Land

Links:

Click here to view a map that shows how Idaho compares to the rest of nation when it comes to National Forest concentration. 

Click here to read our Critical Choices for OUR Forest brochure.

Click here to view and download an issue brief Who Owns Idaho's Forests?