The federal government is not allowed to OWN or control ANY land other than what is listed within article 1 section 8.
If they didn't own the land then how could they create states like Nevada and Utah out of it?
Since all the Founders that were still alive participated in setting up the system by which public land was sold and then later made available for homestead, I think it’s pretty clear that they thought otherwise.
If you can find a single example of all public land within a state, or even most of it being transferred to state ownership, I’ll be glad to change my POV at least to some extent.
Ohio became the first state admitted under the public lands/territory paradigm in 1803. The federal government retained ownership of all land not sold while it was a territory except one section per township granted to the state for purposes of funding schools and roads. AFAIK, nobody even claimed at the time that title to the ownership of unsold public lands should be transferred to the state.
One state with which I’m familiar is MO. Federal public lands were still being sold off and homesteaded in quantity in the 1910s and 20s, and some as late as the 1960s.
Here’s an interesting article about the history of public land disposal.
\http://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=Public-Domain_States
IOW, while you may not think the fedgov should be able to own or control land, our entire history contradicts the notion.