One Third of all Land in the United States Owned by the Federal Government

Off the Grid News ^ | Jul 10th, 2012 | Tim George

[Sopater]

In a nation that considers limited government one of its most cherished founding principles, nearly one third of all of its land is now owned by the federal government. And one state, Utah has had enough. That state has enacted a bill giving the federal government a deadline of December 2014 to relinquish control of all public lands.

In at least five states – Utah, Alaska, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho – the federal government owns more than one half of all land. These states, beset with chronic unemployment and tight budgets, are fighting to get their lost land back. A protracted, ugly legal battle appears inevitable.

The movement to regain lost land from the federal government reaches far beyond Utah. The Arizona State Senate passed a bill in February to reclaim its lands as well. Other bills patterned after the ones in Utah and Arizona are expected to be filed next year in Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, and Montana.

“It’s time we insisted they give us the lands that are rightfully ours,” said state Republican Ken Ivory (Utah). “That land includes a wealth of resources from clean coal or natural gas, and much more.”

Much of this territory was ceded to the federal government close to the end of the Revolutionary War. Congress then surveyed the land and eventually opened it up for settlement. Settlers from the East moved into some of the land but fast tracks in the western territories were considered unusable and remain under federal control.

More recently, the landholdings have become politicized. Environmentalists and preservationists have fought any attempt at development. The 10 states with the highest percentage of federal land ownership are all west of the Mississippi.

The federal government currently owns 620,000,000 acres of land, which is about 30% of all the land in the United States. This means the federal government owns more acreage than the landmasses of Germany, Spain, France, and Italy combined.

Ivory says that federal control was supposed to be merely temporary. “It was a solemn agreement that was supposed to be performed in a timely manner,” he said. But Congress had other ideas. In 1976, it passed a law directing the Bureau of Land Management to hold land “in perpetuity,” rather than systematically disposing of it.

Robert Gordon, a senior adviser for strategic outreach at the Heritage Foundation, says that federal land ownership is growing more controversial during this time of a weakened economy. He says people are “tired of federal bureaucracy and its agencies wasting America’s tax dollars. How can we possibly have a productive economy when the government is keeping all our resources from us? Federal government should not be in the land business. These lands need to be returned to the states.”

Percentage of lands owned by the Federal Government by state:

• Nevada – 83%
• Utah – 67%
• Alaska – 62%
• Idaho – 62%
• Oregon – 53%
• Wyoming – 48%
• California – 48%
• Arizona – 42%
• Colorado – 36%
• New Mexico – 35%

Compare the ownership percentages above with federally owned land in other states and you’ll see why these states are fighting for what is rightfully theirs:

• Connecticut  0.4%
• Rhode Island  0.4%
• Iowa  0.8%
• New York  0.8%
• Maine  1.1%
• Kansas  1.2%
• Nebraska  1.4%
• Alabama  1.6%
• Ohio  1.7%
• Illinois  1.8%

[Regulator]

Who specifically in the federal government owns anything?

The people in the BLM sure as hell think they do. Whenever I hear them talk about it, it's "our property...".

That entire agency needs to be closed and the property they "manage" sold off in small parcels for maximum popular use.

[crusty old prospector]

I want my twenty acres and a Mule from Obamao's stash.

[justa-hairyape]

The states should start charging the feds property taxes. Actually, make the taxes retroactive to revolutionary times.

[JimRed]

Since this is a “government of the people”, government owned means that we all own it. How dare they try to keep me off of my own land?

[SkyDancer]

It’s held in trust for the people, so they say.

[fish hawk]

I saw a map of the United States a few years back (I think it was on the internet) that showed all Federal land and state land shaded green. I was blown away of the little that was left to private ownership. And, that did not include county and city property. It was almost unbelievable.

[Las Vegas Ron]

I read Thomas Jefferson's handwriting to say "life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness;"

I think I might have been wrong when I posted it was the the original draft.

But I'm pretty sure when they were debating the issue, debate of happiness vs property was central....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_liberty_and_the_pursuit_of_happiness

[BfloGuy]

But, but doesn't that mean it's the people's land? /sarc>

[Sarajevo]

I’m sure a lot of people would like to see housing developments all over Yellowstone or a business park in the middle of White Sands missile range.

[ntnychik]

China wants the real estate, and our fresh water.

[Conservative Vermont Vet]

Ivory says that federal control was supposed to be merely temporary. “It was a solemn agreement that was supposed to be performed in a timely manner,” he said. But Congress had other ideas. In 1976, it passed a law directing the Bureau of Land Management to hold land “in perpetuity,” rather than systematically disposing of it.

I'm certain this will come as a "SHOCK" to y'all:

94th Congress in 1976:

Senate President: Nelson Rockefeller

Senate Pres. pro tem: James Eastland

House Speaker: Carl Albert

Senate Majority: Democratic Party

House Majority: Democratic Party

ADD to that the fact that we had as our President one of the BIGGEST, WUSS, RINO's EVER, Gerald Ford (AND HE WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MY HAVING LEFT THE REPUBLIC PARTY...FOREVER WHEN HE SAT BACK AND ALLOWED OUR ALLIES S. VIETNAM BE CONQUERED BY THE NORTH)and now we know how that "Bill" was able to become law.

[KrisKrinkle]

“One Third of all Land in the United States Owned by the Federal Government”

Proof or it ain’t true.

[thackney]

Your link does not suggest the founders debated the pursuit of property at all. Locke was not a founding father. John Locke died in 1704.

[thackney]

The Federal Government owns nearly 650 million acres of land - almost 30 percent of the land area of the United States.

http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/fedlands.html

National Atlas is part of the Department of the Interior.

[Sopater]

I’m sure a lot of people would like to see housing developments all over Yellowstone or a business park in the middle of White Sands missile range.

That's exactly the kind of response I expect from people who want to control land that they don't own.

[Sopater]

Proof or it ain’t true.

I don't know if this is "proof", but here's a map of Federal owned lands and indian reservations from 2005.

[Sarajevo]

That's exactly the kind of response I expect from people who want to control land that they don't own.

Care to expound on that statement? Who do you think owns National parklands?

[KrisKrinkle]

"National Atlas is part of the Department of the Interior."

I'm not certain the National Atlas is proof. On the other hand:

From Public Law 85-508, July 7, 1958 | [H. R. 7999] 72 Stat. 339, AN ACT To provide for the admission of the State of Alaska into the Union:

SEC. 5.

The State of Alaska and its political subdivisions, respectively, shall have and retain title to all property, real and personal, title to which is in the Territory of Alaska or any of the subdivisions. Except as provided in section 6 hereof, the United States shall retain title to all property, real and personal, to which it has title, including public lands.

Something like that is more like what I had in mind. Note that it says the United States shall retain title, not the Federal Government. The Federal Government should be an agent for the States, not the owner.

[thackney]

Note that it says the United States shall retain title, not the Federal Government.

I guess in terms of a legal document, I don't understand the difference. What United States entity would hold title if not the Federal Government? Each individual state have 1/50th with control over that?

[dfwgator]

“Land....land.....Land, see Snatch.”