In the United States governmental entities including cities, counties, states, and the federal government all manage land which are referred to as either public lands or the public domain.
The majority of public lands in the United States are held in trust for the American people by the federal government and managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the United States National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, or the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Department of the Interior, or the United States Forest Service under the Department of Agriculture. Other federal agencies that manage public lands include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Department of Defense, which includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.[4]
In general, Congress must legislate the creation of new public lands, such as national parks; however, under the 1906 Antiquities Act, the President may designate new national monuments without congressional authorization.
Each western state also received federal “public land” as trust lands designated for specific beneficiaries, which the States are to manage as a condition to acceptance into the union. Those trust lands cannot any longer be considered public lands as allowing any benefits to the “public” would be in breach of loyalty to the specific beneficiaries. The trust lands (two sections, or about 1,280 acres (5.2 km2) per township) are usually managed extractively (grazing or mining), to provide revenue for public schools. All states have some lands under state management, such as state parks, state wildlife management areas, and state forests.
Wilderness is a special designation for public lands which have been completely undeveloped. The concept of wilderness areas was legislatively defined by the 1964 Wilderness Act. Wilderness areas can be managed by any of the above Federal agencies, and some parks and refuges are almost entirely designated wilderness. A wilderness study area is a tract of land that has wilderness characteristics, and is managed as wilderness, but has not received a wilderness designation from Congress.
Typically each parcel is governed by its own set of laws and rules that explain the purpose for which the land was acquired, and how the land may be used.
Recreation on U.S. public lands[edit]
Most state- and federally managed public lands are open for recreational use. Recreation opportunities depend on the managing agency, and run the gamut from the free-for-all, undeveloped wide open spaces of BLM lands to the highly developed and controlled national and state parks. Wildlife refuges and state wildlife management areas, managed primarily to improve habitat, are generally open to wildlife watching, hiking, and hunting, except for closures to protect mating and nesting, or to reduce stress on wintering animals. National forests generally have a mix of maintained trails and roads, wilderness and undeveloped portions, and developed picnic and camping areas.
In an attempt to present a balanced view of the history and uses of America’s public lands, two teams trekked the US, from the Canadian and Mexican borders, in a project known as American Frontiers: A Public Lands Journey.
Grazing on U.S. public lands[edit]
Historically in the western United States, most public land is leased for grazing by cattle or sheep. This includes vast tracts of National Forest and BLM land, as well as land on Wildlife Refuges. National Parks are the exception. This use became controversial in the late 20th century as it was examined by environmentalists.[5]
Another term for the land described here is unappropriated lands, those lands that came under the jurisdiction of the United States and were not appropriated by previous grants of private ownership, or owned by the states. The United States Government holds title to this land, always had as a sovereign right. There is no trust.
This argument, including the words you have posted, are used by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups to advance their agenda which aims to restrict all economic activities on public lands and provides preference to flora and fauna over citizens.
When discussing politically charged topics, using Wikapedia as you have done is usually not a good idea. You don’t know who is editing that page and you don’t know if the page has been locked to exclude dissenting information.
This page has some useful information, but the language about U.S. trust lands is straight out of the Sierra Club playbook. The federal government granted trust lands to the states and some Indian lands are governed by trusts, but the federal lands displayed on that map are not trust lands. Federal land includes all public lands, the distinct being the purpose to which they are put as defined by the Congress. That purpose can be changed by law, but many argue that today those purposes are being changed by fiat by the BLM the Forest Service, and the NPS. I think that is what is happening here.
It’s not a question of ownership and yours is a distinction without a difference. It’s a question of public use as defined by law, by granting of use permits, and by historical precedence. Mr Bundy has paid for the grazing rights that he uses on federal land and he paid for the water rights to support it. The federal government has unreasonably raised his grazing fees and has refused to let him pay grazing fees until he agrees to all the terms and conditions which includes reducing his herd size to 150 head, a limit that puts him out of business.