Welcome to the Lands and Realty Management website.

Our Mission
The Lands and Realty management program secures and protects the American public's rights, title, value, and interests in its national forests and grasslands and authorizes a variety of uses on those lands to meet the needs of present and future generations.

Our Goal
More than 192 million acres of public land are managed as national forests and grasslands. The protection of these lands and resources is a fundamental Forest Service responsibility. Through direct land management practices, the Lands and Realty Management program enables the agency to better manage Federal lands within or adjacent to NFS boundaries and deliver the necessary products and services that are essential for enhancing natural resource stewardship and providing for the public's enjoyment, future use, and access to NFS lands.

Some of the uses and activities we facilitate include:

• Purchasing land to protect critical resource areas and provide increased public recreation opportunities
• Authorizing a powerline to provide electricity to a community
• Ensuring that a hydro-electric project protects riparian areas on the National Forest
• Exchanging and conveying lands to achieve a desired national forest landownership pattern that supports forest land and resource goals and objectives
• Conveying administrative sites to allow the agency to realign and enhance its asset portfolio
• Surveying national forest boundaries to identify and protect private and public lands
• Determining the market value of lands purchased, exchanged, or conveyed
• Authorizing a right-of-way for a road to a private home within the forest
• Accepting donations of land to protect archeological or historical sites
• Maintaining records of national forest land areas, land transactions, land status, permitted uses, and easements
• Securing public road and trail access to existing national forest system lands

For details about a specific location or area of interest, please contact your local Forest Service Office.

Find a contact in the Washington Office Lands Staff directory for a question about an agency-wide program or issue.

Land Areas of the National Forest System is the link to the latest statistics available on land areas administered by the Forest Service.

Print versions of the Mission and Goal statement are available in two file formats: PDF file or text only version. Note: You will need Adobe Reader (available free of charge from the Adobe website) to open the PDF file.