Forests are important elements of natural and human-dominated landscapes.
Forests benefit both humans and wildlife species, providing wood fiber, outdoor recreation, wildlife habitat, and regulation of some hydrologic functions. They dominate most of the mid-Atlantic region today. Historic patterns of land use and development have created the present distribution of forests from what once was essentially all forest. These patterns have also caused changes in the plant and animal species which live in forested environments. Four related views of forest cover patterns are presented in this section.