Acreage held by the government for conservation purposes. Public lands are generally undeveloped, with limited activities such as grazing, wildlife management, recreation, timbering, mineral development, water development, and hunting. Many western states, such as Alaska and Nevada, have large amounts of public lands. A part of this area is held by the federal government and is dedicated to national parks, wilderness, and wildlife refuges. Some oil and mineral exploration is allowed under Lease to private firms.
public land
| Business Dictionary: Public Land |
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| Real Estate Dictionary: Public Lands |
Acreage held by the government for conservation purposes. Public lands are generally undeveloped, with limited activities such as grazing, wildlife management, recreation, timbering, mineral development, water development, and hunting.
Example: Many western states, such as Alaska and Nevada, have large amounts of public lands. A part of this area is held by the federal government and is dedicated to national parks, wilderness, and wildlife refuges. Some oil and mineral exploration is allowed under Lease to private firms.
| US Supreme Court: Public Lands |
Nearly all of the territory in the United States outside the original thirteen states once comprised public lands of the federal government, acquired from foreign powers or from states through cession, and from natives. Some public lands have been purchased by the federal government from private persons or states for governmental operations.
The federal government's authority over its lands is defined principally in the Constitution's enumerated powers of Congress and in the Property Clause (Art. IV, sec. 3, cl. 2), which provides, “The Congress shall have power to dispose of and to make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting Territory and other Property belonging to the United States.” The Supreme Court has read the Property Clause expansively, stating that the clause gives Congress both a general legislative power and the power of a proprietor over federal lands. In light of the comprehensive authority granted to Congress, the Court has usually deferred to Congress, and confined itself largely to interpreting congressional statutes and administrative regulations controlling or disposing of public lands.
The Supreme Court must reconcile federal and state jurisdiction over federal public lands located within state borders. Under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause (Art. VI, sec. 2), federal provisions override conflicting state laws, and states may not interfere with federal ownership of public lands. Hence, states may not tax federal lands. However, the states have a residual jurisdiction to enforce their criminal laws on federal public lands within their borders, except where a state has ceded its jurisdiction or consented to the federal government's acquisition of land in the state under the Enclave Clause (Art. I, sec. 8, cl. 17).
See also Land Grants; Territories and New States.
— Bruce A. Campbell
| Columbia Encyclopedia: public land |
public land, in U.S. history, land owned by the federal government but not reserved for any special purpose, e.g., for a park or a military reservation. Public land is also called land in the public domain. Except in Texas, which made retention of its public lands one of the conditions for joining the Union, there are no state public lands. Seven of the original states ceded their western lands to the federal government when they entered the Union. Additional public land was acquired with the Louisiana Purchase (1803), Florida (1819), Oregon (1846), the Mexican Cession (1848), the Gadsden Purchase (1853), and Alaska (1867). Almost as soon as public land was acquired the federal government began to dispose of it through grants to states, railroad companies, settlers (see Homestead Act, 1862), colleges (see land-grant colleges and universities), and cash sales. It was charged that large companies frequently acquired extensive holdings by dishonest means, and many of the new owners obtained considerable revenue by selling the land. A reaction to this easy policy set in toward the end of the 19th cent., and steps were taken to ensure the conservation of natural resources by withdrawing public lands from sale. Thereafter the government leased such land for grazing, lumbering, mining, the harnessing of water power, and other purposes, while maintaining regulatory control. By the 1970s there was considerable controversy over the need to make the best use of the public land's valuable resources while still preserving the land for future use and expanded recreational activities. Most of the nation's remaining public land is in the western part of the country, about half of it in Alaska.
Bibliography
See E. L. Peffer, The Closing of the Public Domain (1951, repr. 1972); W. C. Calef, Private Grazing and Public Lands (1960); V. Carstensen, ed., The Public Lands (1962); P. Gates, History of Public Land Law Development (1968); M. J. Rohrbough, The Land Office Business (1968).
| Law Encyclopedia: Public Lands |
This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.
Land that is owned by the United States government.
Public land refers to the public domain, unappropriated land belonging to the federal government that is subject to sale or other disposal under general laws and is not reserved for any particular governmental or public purpose.
Much of this land was acquired early in the history of the United States as a result of purchases, wars, or treaties made with foreign countries. The federal government used this land to encourage growth, settlement, and economic development. Land that was not developed, homesteaded, or sold remained in federal ownership as public land. Today, the federal government employs principles of land use planning and environmental protection to preserve the natural resources and scenic beauty found on public land.
| Wikipedia: Public land |
In all modern states, some land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land. The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries. The following examples illustrate some of the range.
Contents |
Commonwealth countries
In several Commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, public lands are referred to as Crown lands. Recent proposals to sell Crown lands have been highly controversial.
France
In France, public land (French: domaine public) may he held by communes, départements, or the central State.
United States
In the United States governmental entities including cities, counties, states, and the federal government all manage land which are referred to as either public lands or the public domain.
The majority of public lands in the United States are held in trust for the American people by the federal government and managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the United States National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, or the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Department of the Interior, or the United States Forest Service under the Department of Agriculture. Other federal agencies that manage public lands include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Department of Defense, which includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In general, Congress must legislate the creation of new public lands, such as national parks; however, under the 1906 Antiquities Act, the President may designate new national monuments without congressional authorization.
Each western state also received federal "public land" as trust lands designated for specific beneficiaries, which the States are to manage as a condition to acceptance into the union. Those trust lands cannot any longer be considered public lands as allowing any benefits to the "public" would be in breach of loyalty to the specific beneficiaries. The trust lands (two sections, or about 1,280 acres (5.2 km2) per township) are usually managed extractively (grazing or mining), to provide revenue for public schools. All states have some lands under state management, such as state parks, state wildlife management areas, and state forests.
Wilderness is a special designation for public lands which have been completely undeveloped. The concept of wilderness areas was legislatively defined by the 1964 Wilderness Act. Wilderness areas can be managed by any of the above Federal agencies, and some parks and refuges are almost entirely designated wilderness. A wilderness study area is a tract of land that has wilderness characteristics, and is managed as wilderness, but has not received a wilderness designation from Congress.
Typically each parcel is governed by its own set of laws and rules that explain the purpose for which the land was acquired, and how the land may be used.
The private uses of public lands continues to be a challenging issue in the United States. Environmental groups have used the Public Trust Doctrine to re-establish rights to common resources such as water in the arid west and in Hawaii. An expanded vision of the Public Trust doctrine that includes soils, air and other species has been argued. [1] Recently there have also been increasing efforts to privatize many public lands through land trades and other privatization schemes. [2]
Recreation on U.S. public lands
Most state- and federally managed public lands are open for recreational use. Recreation opportunities depend on the managing agency, and run the gamut from the free-for-all, undeveloped wide open spaces of BLM lands to the highly developed and controlled national and state parks. Wildlife refuges and state wildlife management areas, managed primarily to improve habitat, are generally open to wildlife watching, hiking, and hunting, except for closures to protect mating and nesting, or to reduce stress on wintering animals. National forests generally have a mix of maintained trails and roads, wilderness and undeveloped portions, and developed picnic and camping areas.
Grazing on U.S. public lands
Historically in the western United States, most public land is leased for grazing by cattle or sheep. This includes vast tracts of National Forest and BLM land, as well as land on Wildlife Refuges. National Parks are the exception. This use became controversial in the late 20th century as it was examined by environmentalists. [3]
See also
- Federal enclave
- National Public Lands Day (in the US)
External links for U.S. public lands
- Public Lands Information Center: state and federal lands in the Western U.S.
- Recreation on Federal Lands: United States/ nationwide
- Public Land / Water Access Assoc.: Montana/ United States
Further reading
- Nancy Ferguson, Sacred Cows at the Public Trough, Maverick Publications (December, 1983), trade paperback, ISBN 0-89288-091-0
Footnotes
- ^ Western States Data Public Land Acreage
- ^ http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/lar/2007/TABLE_4.htm
- ^ Pages 14-73, "The Public Lands Debate", Sharman Apt Russell, Kill the Cowboy: A Battle of Mythology in the New West, Addison-Wesley (May, 1993), hardcover, 218 pages, ISBN 0-201-58123-X
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