What White Mountain National Forest does

White Mountain National Forest is a federally managed national forest situated in New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine, established in 1918 under the Weeks Act as the first national forest created in the eastern United States. It is one of 175 national forests and grasslands administered by the USDA Forest Service across 193 million acres of public land, operating under the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of the federal executive branch. The forest provides public access to outdoor recreation including hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, skiing, and scenic enjoyment, while also fulfilling conservation mandates including wildlife habitat protection, watershed management, and natural resource stewardship.

The entity's core digital products include the Interactive Visitor Map (an ArcGIS-based online application), the National Forests and Grasslands mobile app, Forest Service Digital Maps, and the Geospatial Data Discovery Hub at data-usfs.hub.arcgis.com. Physical products include Forest Visitor Maps (tear-resistant waterproof synthetic paper), National Forest Atlases (1:63,360 scale topographic quadrangle maps), Wilderness Maps, Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM), and Over Snow Vehicle Use Maps (OSVUM). Recreation access is managed through America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes and the Special Forest Product E-Permits system on epermits.fs2c.usda.gov. The MAPLand Act data was first released in April 2026 to modernize public land access information.

The business model is government-funded through congressional appropriations rather than commercial revenue. Recreation on national forests is generally free, with modest recreation fees for specific services and facilities. Proceeds from America the Beautiful passes enhance visitor recreation services across more than 2,000 federal recreation sites. The "customer" base is the American public at large, with no commercial customer segments, pricing models, or revenue contracts in the traditional sense.

Name

White Mountain National Forest

Legal name

White Mountain National Forest

Website

https://fs.usda.gov

Company type

Public

Founded year

1918

Operating status

Operating

Short description

White Mountain National Forest is a federally managed national forest in New Hampshire and western Maine, administered by the USDA Forest Service since 1918, providing public outdoor recreation, conservation, and natural resource stewardship across its designated boundaries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Land Management and Outdoor Recreation

NAICS

Forestry and Logging (113), Timber Tract Operations (113110), Support Activities for Forestry (1153)

SIC

Forestry (800), Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

Forestry & Public Lands Administration (State/National Forests) (BPAIAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

National/State Park Campgrounds & Public Campgrounds (THAMAJAI), Mountain & Wilderness Lodges (THAAAHAE)

Keywords

• National forest management
• Public land conservation
• Outdoor recreation services
• Recreation permit issuance
• Natural resource stewardship

Headquarters

HQ city

Campton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

White Mountain National Forest is a federally managed national forest that provides public outdoor recreation access (hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, skiing, scenic enjoyment) and natural resource conservation across forest lands in northern New Hampshire and western Maine. It delivers digital visitor services including the Interactive Visitor Map, the National Forests and Grasslands mobile app, printed and digital maps, the America the Beautiful pass program, and Special Use Permits for special forest products. Operations are conducted under the USDA Forest Service as part of the National Forest System covering 193 million acres.

Product overview

The Forest Service provides a comprehensive suite of digital mapping, recreation planning, and permit management products across the national forests and grasslands system. The core digital offerings include the Interactive Visitor Map (ArcGIS-based online application), the National Forests and Grasslands mobile app, and Forest Service Digital Maps. Paper map products include Forest Visitor Maps, National Forest Atlases, and Wilderness Maps. Motor Vehicle Use Maps and Over Snow Vehicle Use Maps provide route designations for motorized recreation. Recreation access is managed through America the Beautiful passes and the Special Use Permits online system. Geospatial data is available through the Forest Service open data hub and MAPLand Act databases. White Mountain National Forest is one of 175 national forests and grasslands managed by the US Forest Service, appearing in the listing of forests under Region 9 (Eastern Region) with dedicated planning pages at fs.usda.gov/r09/whitemountain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Interactive Visitor Map

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands: State-level public-land manager that administers parks and public lands in western Maine adjacent to the Maine portion of White Mountain NF, offering comparable recreation and conservation services under a state (not federal) mandate.
• White Mountain National Forest - neighboring: White Mountain region state parks (NH State Parks): New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation manages state parks in the same White Mountains region, providing hiking, camping, and scenic recreation on adjacent public lands with overlapping visitor base but different (state) ownership and management structure.

Others

• The Trust for Public Land: National nonprofit that acquires and conserves public land, including eastern national forest additions, and works alongside the Forest Service on land-protection transactions—an adjacent ecosystem participant with shared conservation mission.
• National Forest Foundation: Congressionally-chartered nonprofit that raises private and corporate funds to support the National Forest System, including White Mountain NF; comparable as a partnership/funding channel and as a steward of the same public asset base.
• Appalachian National Scenic Trail (Appalachian Trail Conservancy): Non-profit partner managing the Appalachian Trail, which passes through White Mountain NF; comparable as a co-stewardship, recreation-focused, conservation-oriented organization that operates on and depends on the same federal forest lands.

Direct peers

• White Mountain National Forest - adjacent units: George Washington and Jefferson National Forests: Another Eastern Region national forest delivering similar public recreation, wildlife habitat, and forest-management services across a multi-state Appalachian footprint, sharing mandate, funding structure, and operational model with White Mountain NF.
• Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests: Also a Region 9 (Eastern Region) USDA Forest Service unit offering public recreation, timber, and conservation on a comparable multi-state footprint in the northeastern U.S., making it a directly comparable national forest peer.

Broad incumbents

• Bureau of Land Management: Federal agency managing multi-use public lands (primarily in the West) for recreation, grazing, timber, and conservation; comparable as a federal land-management counterpart with similar multi-use mandate but different geographic focus.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Federal agency under DOI that manages national wildlife refuges and conducts fish and wildlife conservation, frequently co-managing habitat with National Forest units like White Mountain; a broader public-land management incumbent with overlapping conservation mandate.
• National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior): The federal counterpart agency under DOI managing national parks (e.g., Acadia, near the Maine portion of White Mountain NF) and providing similar public-land recreation, conservation, and visitor services at a broader, system-wide scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/forestservice
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/usdaForestService
• Facebookfacebook.com/USForestService
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/usda-forest-service
• Instagraminstagram.com/u.s.forestservice

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about White Mountain National Forest