<P> There are two distinctly different types of forests within the National Forest system . </P> <Ul> <Li> Those east of the Great Plains in the Midwestern and Eastern United States were primarily acquired by the federal government since 1891, and may be second growth forests . The land had long been in the private domain and sometimes repeatedly logged since colonial times, but was purchased by the United States government in order to create new National Forests . </Li> <Li> Those west of the Great Plains in the Western United States, though established since 1891, are primarily on lands with ownership maintained by the federal government since the U.S. acquisition and settling of the American West . These are mostly lands that were kept in the public domain, with the exception of inholdings and donated or exchanged private forest lands . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Those east of the Great Plains in the Midwestern and Eastern United States were primarily acquired by the federal government since 1891, and may be second growth forests . The land had long been in the private domain and sometimes repeatedly logged since colonial times, but was purchased by the United States government in order to create new National Forests . </Li> <Li> Those west of the Great Plains in the Western United States, though established since 1891, are primarily on lands with ownership maintained by the federal government since the U.S. acquisition and settling of the American West . These are mostly lands that were kept in the public domain, with the exception of inholdings and donated or exchanged private forest lands . </Li>

How much forest land is there in the united states