Checkerboarding refers to a situation where land ownership is intermingled between two or more owners, resulting in a checkerboard pattern. Checkerboarding is prevalent in the Western United States.
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Railroad grants
Checkerboarding in the West occurred due to railroad land grants where railroads would be granted every other section along a rail corridor. These grants, which typically extended 6 to 40 miles (10 to 64 km) from either side of the track[1], were a subsidy to the railroads. Unlike per-mile subsidies which encouraged fast but shoddy track-laying, land grants encouraged higher quality work, since the railroads could increase the value of the land by building better track. The government also benefited from the increased value of the remaining public parcels[1].
The first grants were given to the Mobile and Ohio and Illinois Central Railroads in 1850[1]. Additional grants were made under the Pacific Railway Acts between 1862 and 1871, when they were stopped due to public opposition. In total, 79 grants were made, totaling 200,000,000 acres (810,000 km2), later reduced to 131,000,000 acres (530,000 km2). [1]
Native Americans
Checkerboarding also occurred due to Native American land grants, where native land was intermingled with non-native land. Many Native American tribes oppose checkerboarding, because it broke up traditionally communal native settlements into many individual plots, and allowed non-natives to claim land within those settlements.
The Dawes Act of 1887 created most Native American checkerboarding. The act was intended to bolster self-sufficiency giving each individual between 40 and 160 acres.
Problems
Checkerboarding can create problems for access and ecological management. It is one of the major causes of inholdings within the boundaries of national forests.
References
- ^ a b c d Walton, Gary M.; Rockoff, Hugh (2005). "Railroads and Economic Change". History of the American Economy (10th ed. ed.). United States: South-Western. pp. 313–4. ISBN 0-324-22636-5.
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