Introduction to Public Lands
Public Lands, in the United States, land owned by the federal government. This land is sometimes called the public domain, although that term also has a broader meaning. Land owned by a municipality, county, or state may also be referred to as public land. This article, however, deals only with federally owned lands. The federal government has at various times held title to about four-fifths of the nation's area. Twenty-nine states were created out of the original public lands.
More than 1,800,000 square miles (4,662,000 km 2 ) have been transferred, by sale or gift, to private citizens, businesses, institutions, and state and local governments. The remaining public lands total about 1,030,000 square miles (2,668,000 km 2 ), or approximately one-third of the nation's area. Some of these lands are occupied by military installations and other government facilities; some are used for such purposes as grazing, lumbering, recreation, and power-development projects; and some are vacant.
Administration of Public Lands
Title to the public lands is held by various federal departments, agencies, and commissions. More than half of the public lands are under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, whose Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is by far the largest holding agency. Other Interior holding agencies are the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Mines, Bureau of Reclamation, Geological Survey, and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Second in acreage is the Department of Agriculture, whose Forest Service administers about 30 per cent of the federally owned land. The departments of Defense and of Commerce and the Tennessee Valley Authority and other power agencies also hold public lands.
A major principle in administering public land is to let it be used for several purposes at the same time—such as grazing and mineral exploration, or conservation and recreation. Another guiding principle is to control the cutting of timber and use of other renewable resources so that the supply remains constant.
Acquiring Or Using Public Land
Public lands are surveyed and classified by the government. When land is opened to the public, its use is specified. Among the uses for which public land may be procured (from the BLM, unless otherwise noted) are the following:
FarmingFree farmland is no longer available from the federal government. Homestead laws, under which land had been provided to settlers, were repealed by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, mainly because the remaining unoccupied land was of little value for farming. Other agricultural development laws, including the Desert Land Act, are still in limited operation in a few states. Under the Desert Land Act, persons who irrigate arid public land so that it can be cultivated may buy it at a low price.
Timber HarvestingThe Forest Service selects timber and, through competitive bidding, sells it to private companies, which cut and remove it under government supervision. The BLM conducts a similar program in its forested land.
GrazingGrazing districts are maintained by the BLM, which issues licenses or permits for their use. The Forest Service permits some grazing on its lands. Other federal land suitable for grazing is available on lease.
BusinessLand may be leased from the National Park Service and the Forest Service for commercial concessions in the national parks and forests, if the agency thinks the concession will benefit the public.
Prospecting and MiningMost of the BLM lands and national forests are open to prospecting and to the leasing of mineral rights. Oil, gas, and coal leases are issued for definite periods and under specified conditions. Rentals and royalties are paid to the federal government. The rights to other minerals, such as gold and silver, can be claimed under the Mining Act of 1872. If the find is commercially valuable, title to the land can also be obtained.
RecreationSummer home or cabin sites in the national forests may be leased from the Forest Service. State and local governments and private nonprofit organizations may buy or lease BLM land for public purposes.
History of United States Land Policy
The original part of the public domain consisted of lands ceded by seven eastern states. ( The Ordinance of 1785 stipulated that none of it could be sold until it was surveyed. The office of Surveyor General was established by the Land Act of 1796. This act also provided for the sale of single sections of 640 acres (259 hectares) at $2 an acre. Land acts passed early in the 19th century reduced the price and lowered the minimum acreage per sale, but it was often speculators rather than settlers who bought land under these acts.
In the 19th century the public domain was expanded by vast territorial acquisitions, such as the Louisiana Purchase and the area gained by the Mexican War. ( The government wished to sell land to settlers, but the prices remained too high for most people. However, a great deal of land was given away. Many war veterans were paid for their service in scrip (a document showing entitlement) that could be exchanged for land. The government also gave away a vast acreage to promote education and internal improvements. Land was granted for grade schools, universities, normal schools, and specialized institutions. ( Grants were made for wagon roads, canals and river improvement, and railways.
Demand for cheap land eventually led to the Preemption Act of 1841, under which squatters (people who had settled on public land without buying it) were given the first chance to buy their tracts for a minimum of $1.25 an acre. Prior to the act's enactment, the squatters' land could be sold at auction at prices they could not afford to pay. In 1862 the Homestead Act was passed, and thousands of pioneers rushed to claim free land for homesites and farms. Further legislation permitted free acquisition of timberland and allowed timber cutting on land that remained in public hands.
Under the Small Tract Act of 1938, five-acre (2-hectare) tracts for homesites were made available in Alaska for $2.50 an acre.
In the 1960's the BLM began curtailing the sale of public lands and shifted its policy toward retaining federal lands. For some lands the BLM emphasized a policy of conservation and for other lands a policy of development—to provide for such uses as rangeland grazing, mineral exploitation, and recreation.
The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 consolidated some 3,000 separate pieces of legislation relating to public land management and provided for greater Congressional supervision over the sale and use of federally owned land. The act ended the availability of homesites under the Homestead Act of 1862 and the Small Tract Act of 1938.