Forest Facts
True or False? The taiga is a forest
True! The taiga is a type of forest in the sub-arctic region.
Which national park is the most visited in the U.S.?
A) Yosemite
B) Great Smoky Mountains
C) Grand Canyon
B! The Great Smoky Mountains report about 11.5 million visitors annually.
Name 3 species of bears
North American Black Bear, Brown Bear, Polar bear, Asiatic Black Bear, Andean (Spectacled) Bear, Panda bear, Sloth bear, and Sun Bear
True or False? Teddy Roosevelt created the National Park Service
False! While often dubbed as the "conservation president" due to his expansion of parks and monuments, TR did not create the NPS. Woodrow Wilson created the agency in August of 1916.
True or False? The Hocking Hills (an hour south of Columbus) is a national park
False! The Hocking Hills is a state park, hence the free admission (Ohio is one of only 8 states that allows visitors into state parks for free).
How many National Forests are in the United States?
A) 478
B) 154
C) 1,215
B! There are 154 federally designated National Forests in the U.S.
True or False? Yellowstone was the first established national park
True! Ulysses S. Grant signed this into law on March 1, 1872.
True or False? Foxes only live in the forest
False! Foxes inhabit a wide range of habitats from deserts to forests to snow-covered tundras
True or False? You can see a 17 foot statue of Roosevelt at his presidential library in Medora, North Dakota
False! The statue is on Theodore Roosevelt Island (a memorial within the NPS) in D.C., TR's presidential library is not yet open to the public; it opens on July 4, 2026.
Name the only designated national park in Ohio, whose river has caught on fire more than once.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park; the river caught on fire most recently due to an oil slick in 1969, but had caught on fire a few times before that.
Which of these forests is the largest forest in the United States?
A) Tongass Forest in Alaska
B) Salmon-Challis Forest in Idaho
C) Bridger-Teton Forest in Wyoming
A! The Tongass Forest in Alaska encompasses more than 17 million acres of land.
True or False? Presidential monuments are taken care of by the NPS
True!
"Fat Bear Week" is an annual March-madness style voting tournament that celebrates the bears of Katmai Park in Alaska. When is Fat Bear Week usually held?
The last week of September/early October
About how much land did Roosevelt conserve during his presidency?
A) 230 million acres
B) 78 million acres
C) 116 million acres
A! This includes:
There is one national forest in Ohio, and it's near the Hocking Hills. Name this forest in southeastern Ohio
Wayne National Forest is in the Appalachian foothills in Athens County.
True or False? You can cut down your own Christmas tree from national forests
True! In many states, you can purchase a permit to cut down your own Christmas tree from a national forest.
Which president created the most national parks during his time in office?
A) Teddy Roosevelt
B) Barack Obama
C) Jimmy Carter
C! Jimmy Carter established 13 parks in Alaska through ANILCA, as well as 15 additional NPS units. Obama established and expanded 29 national monuments, the most of any president, and TR established 5 national parks.
Which state is home to the longest salmon run in the world?
A) Alaska
B) Washington
C) Oregon
A! The Bristol Bay salmon run in Alaska hosts about 60 million salmon every summer
Finish his most famous quote: "Speak softly and..."
Carry a big stick! It means to negotiate peacefully but powerfully
About how many visitors does Cuyahoga National Park get every year?
A) 12 million
B) 570,000
C) 3 million
C! The park reports between 2.8 and 3 million visitors annually
Canada is home to 9% of the world's forested land. About how many square miles of forest is this?
A) 1,424,717
B) 786,912
C) 2,321,533
A! The forested land in Canada is bigger than that of India, which is about 1,146,723 square miles,
This national park is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500
The White House is a unit of the national park system. The White House and President's Park is owned by the American people and stewarded by the NPS.
Name seven animals that can live in the forest (think insects, mammals, reptiles, amphibians)
Many answers - deer, foxes, ants, bears, salamanders, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, snakes, badgers, mice, etc.,
Bully! TR referred to the presidency as "the bully pulpit". He assumed the office after the death of which president (an Ohio native)?
President McKinley
How many state parks are in Ohio?
A) 88
B) 112
C) 76
Ohio is home to 76 state parks, with the Hocking Hills being the most visited. Hocking Hills reports about 4 million visitors annually (the Grand Canyon reports between 4.4 and 5 million visitors annually).