Nearly half of the total 100 million acres in California is managed by the federal government. Eighteen national forests make up 20 million acres of this land, which is located in the North Coast, Cascade, and Sierra Nevada ranges and from Big Sur to the Mexican border in the south Coast range. Read more

Organizational Overview

The Forest Service has an office in Vallejo, California to manage the eighteen national forests and 1 national grassland in Region 5. The regional office staff coordinates activities between national forests, monitors activities on national forests to ensure quality operations, provides guidance for forest plans, and allocates budgets to the forests.

Contracting

Contracts with the Pacific Southwest Region fill a variety of needs for the Forest Service and provide economic opportunities for many types of businesses.

History

Many early settlers of the west thought that there was an inexhaustible supply of natural resources, which led to overgrazing, overlogging and destruction of public lands. There were only a few proponents of conservation and wise use of public lands in the country at the time. On May 25, 1907, the Inyo became the first national forest in California to administer public lands, "for the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run."

Budget Information

The Forest Service gets its budget through the Department of Agriculture budget as approved by Congress. Get more budget details about the Forest Service.

Related Information

The Pacific Southwest Research Station represents the research and development branch of the US Forest Service in the states of California and Hawaii and the U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands.

The Center for Urban Forest Research demonstrates new ways that trees add value to communities, converting results into financial terms to stimulate more investment in trees.

National

All Forest Service contracting opportunities are available through FedBizOpps. Look under the Department of Agriculture locations to find Forest Service-specific opportunities.