Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) is an agency chartered by the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

to manage the interests of Texas' forests. The Legislature created the service in 1915. It is a part of the

Texas A&M University System The Texas A&M University System is a state university system in Texas and is one of the state's six independent university systems. The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States, with a bu ...

and is headquartered in

College Station, Texas College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East-Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin. ...

. Among its responsibilities are to manage state owned timberlands, serve as the lead agency in dealing with

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

s throughout the state, and maintain a registry of famous trees throughout the state. In addition to fighting wildfires, Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) is routinely called upon under the State Emergency Management Plan to assist during all-hazard emergencies such as natural and man-made disasters and domestic situations; most recently

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest t ...

. As such, TFS employs the nationally recognized Incident Command System (ICS) which ensures effective and efficient incident management. TFS maintains a workforce of highly trained and experienced personnel and works with other responding state agencies, most notably Texas Department of Emergency Management and Texas Military Forces to increase the effectiveness of response through shared training.

Arboretums

Several arboretums have been created by the Forest Service. The Ruth Bowling Nichols Arboretum is located in

Cherokee County, Texas Cherokee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 50,412. The county seat is Rusk, which lies 130 miles southeast of Dallas and 160 miles north of Houston. The county was named for the C ...

. The Olive Scott Perry Arboretum is located in

Hardin County, Texas Hardin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 56,231. The county seat is Kountze. The county is named for the family of William Hardin from Liberty County, Texas. Hardin ...

References

External links

TFS Homepage
Forest Service, Texas Texas A&M University System Environment of Texas Government agencies established in 1915 {{TAMU-stub