ISSUE:

Aren’t National Parks and National Forests basically the same thing?

FACTS:

National Parks and National Forests are totally different entities.

National Parks were established to preserve natural features and areas of exceptional beauty or historical interest. Examples of National Parks include the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.

National Forests were established “...to furnish a continuous supply of timber for the use and necessities of citizens of the United States...” and to improve and protect the forest, securing favorable conditions of waterflows.

The U.S. Forest Service provides for sharing a portion of revenue from commodity receipts (timber sales, grazing, minerals, and recreation use) to counties in proportion to the number of acres of National Forest land within each county.

These funds are primarily designated to use for schools and roads.

Prior to 2001, this was a straight 25% of the gross receipts. Reduced timber harvesting necessitated new legislation to provide counties with appropriated money to offset reductions in payments.

In 2003,West Virginia counties received $1,269,762 from Forest Service receipts of timber sales, grazing leases, recreational use fees and other land uses.

West Virginia contains one entire National Forest, the Monongahela, and portions of two others, the George Washington and the Jefferson. Together, these comprise over one million acres of forested land.

National Forests are administered by the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Hunting and trapping are prohibited in National Parks, but encouraged in National Forests.

Nationwide, there are 188 million acres of National Forests and 84.4 million acres of National Parks.

National and State Parks do not pay annual fees or taxes. These lands are effectively removed from the tax base.