Southwestern Region

National Forest/Grassland Visitor Maps Price Increase in February

ALBUQUERQUE (February 1, 2007) -  Effective February 28, the price of National Forest/Grassland Visitor Maps will increase to $9 for paper and $10 for plastic maps. Currently, these maps are sold for $6 (paper) and $7 (plastic).  The last time National Forest/Grassland Visitor map prices were raised was in May 2000.

The Forest Service is required by law to recover costs associated with making maps available to the public. Our map sales program is self-sustaining and full cost recovery is necessary in order to remain viable. The new prices reflect an increase in the cost of map preparation, lithographic printing, and distribution to the public.

Costs have been steadily increasing since May 2000. The Forest Service is no longer recovering costs associated with making maps available to the public. An analysis of these costs revealed that these new prices are necessary for full cost recovery.

Wilderness maps, wild and scenic river maps, and other special area maps will also increase in price to reflect rising costs of preparation, production, and distribution.

Forest visitor maps are available at these locations:

• The Southwestern Regional Office (Albuquerque, NM)
• National forest and grassland offices
• Interpretive Associations
• The National Forest Store – Forest Service on-line map sales service for many national forest/grassland visitor maps
• Retail Stores-sporting goods and outdoor stores, book stores, etc.
• US Geological Survey  (USGS) Store  - on-line sales service for many
  Federal map products, including national forest/grassland visitor maps.