If I own property, it has been paid for and maintained with my or my family’s money. How does the gov’t do this? By extortion from we the people.
Paying for and maintaining the property is one possible use. Allowing it to go fallow and sit is another. Generally speaking the government lets land sit unless it can make money off of:
- timber leases
- mineral leases
- grazing leases
No extortion is involved. If you don’t want to pay the lease agreements, don’t expect to get the timber, the minerals or the grazing.