A national forest is forest land owned and administered by a national government. Mandates designating national forest ownership, administration and the distribution of benefits vary greatly around the world. Some nations (e.g. Canada) retain little or no national forest, delegating public land ownership to regional provinces or communities. Other nations (e.g. Albania and other formerly Communist States) retain all public forests as national forests. In many former colonies, national forest administration is patterned after that of the colonizing nation, and lands now comprising national forests were appropriated from indigenous peoples. In all cases, the term national forest refers to a type of state (i.e. government) property and must not be confused with forests that are owned as common property (i.e. private forest owned by a group) or private property. The precepts of modern national forests originated in early eighteenth century France and...