Federal land came about as each of the Colonial States ceded all their lands west of their borders. There is a very early map showing the proposed division of those remaining lands into future states as well as the rules for their division. Lands that were not "bought" or "retained" remained Federal lands within a state. In some cases, the Federal government couldn't "give them away".
"Federal land came about as each of the Colonial States ceded all their lands west of their borders. There is a very early map showing the proposed division of those remaining lands into future states as well as the rules for their division. Lands that were not "bought" or "retained" remained Federal lands within a state. In some cases, the Federal government couldn't "give them away"." All true, as the original goal was to provide an orderly process TO TRANSFER THAT LAND TO STATE AND PRIVATE OWNERSHIP (i.e. Federal control was assumed to be temporary). However, that all changed in the early 1900's with the contamination of US political philosophy with European socialist notions, and now the goal appears to be for the Federal government to retain all the land that remains under its control and to obtain as much more as quickly as possible (i.e Federal control is now assumed to be permanent). This is INCREDIBLY dangerous.
The Fedgov should be required to transfer ALL the rest of the lands to either state or private ownership, with the exceptions as originally stated in the Constitution.