In the United States, national forest is a classification of protected and managed federal lands that are largely forest and woodland areas. They are owned collectively by the American people through the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, a division of the United States Department of Agriculture. The U.S. Forest Service is also a forestry research organization which provides financial assistance to state and local forestry industry. There are 154 national forests in the United States.

The 2005 (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessment ranked the United States as seventh highest country losing its old-growth forests, a vast majority of which were removed prior to the 20th century.

In the United States, deforestation was an ongoing process until recently. Between 2010 and 2020, the US forests increased 0.03% annually, according to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).

Native Americans cleared millions of acres of forest for many reasons, including hunting, farming, berry production, and building materials. Prior to the arrival of European-Americans, about one half of the United States land area was forest, about 1,023,000,000 acres (4,140,000 km2) estimated in 1630. Forest cover in the Eastern United States reached its lowest point in roughly 1872 with about 48 percent compared to the amount of forest cover in 1620. The majority of deforestation took place prior to 1910 with the Forest Service reporting the minimum forestation as 721,000,000 acres (2,920,000 km2) around 1920. The forest resources of the United States remained relatively constant through the 20th century. The Forest Service reported total forestation as 766,000,000 acres (3,100,000 km2) in 2012. A 2017 study estimated 3 percent loss of forest between 1992 and 2001. 

Eastern forests cover about 384 million acres (1,550,000 km²) and are predominantly broadleaf (74%), with the exception of extensive coniferous forests and plantations in the southern coastal region. These are largely in private ownership (83%). By contrast, about 363 million acres (1,470,000 km²) of western forests are predominantly coniferous (78%) and in public ownership (57%).

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 Nearly ten million private individuals own about 422 million acres (1,710,000 km²) of forest and other wooded land. Most public forest land is held by four Federal agencies (United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service) as well as numerous state, county, and municipal government organizations.

Near the Chesapeake Bay and near Maryland forests, sea levels are rising at double the world's average rate. Along with climate change, forests on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore increasingly are affected by saltwater intrusion, or the movement of saltwater towards land that occurs when too much freshwater is removed from aquifers, and the settling of the land itself. In July 2020, saltwater intrusion had affected 50,365 forest acres across the Eastern Shore, up dramatically from 10,174 acres in 2019. The General Assembly ordered the Department of Planning, along with the Departments of Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources, to devise a plan to adapt to saltwater intrusion and update it every five years (Chapter 628, Acts of 2018).

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While total forest area has been relatively stable for the last 100 years, there have been significant regional shifts in the area and composition of the nation's forests. Reversion of marginal farmland in the east, large scale planting in the South, and fire suppression have contributed to increases in forest area. Urbanization, conversion to agriculture, reservoir construction, and natural disasters have been major factors contributing to loss of forests.

It has been estimated that before European settlement, forests in the United States mainland covered nearly 1 billion acres (4,000,000 km2). Since the mid-1600s, about 300 million acres (1,200,000 km2) of forest have been cleared, primarily for agriculture during the 19th century.

As of 2016, roughly 36.21% (about one-third of the U.S.) is forested. Excluding the U.S territories, forested land in the U.S. covers roughly 818,814,000 acres (3,313,622 square kilometers). As of 2005, the United States ranked seventh in the rate of loss of its old growth forests.

Communities in southeastern N.C. are providing updates after severe storms on Monday, Sept. 16, produced significant flooding in many areas.

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Communities in southeastern N.C. are providing updates after severe storms on Monday, Sept. 16, produced significant flooding in many areas.

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