Our Public Land Heritage:

From the GLO to the BLM Wagon train Placer mining in Colorado, 1893 Gold dredge in Alaska, 1938

The challenge of managing public lands started as soon as America established its independence and began acquiring additional lands. Initially, these public lands were used to encourage homesteading and westward migration, and the General Land Office (GLO) was created 1861 • 1865 to support this national goal. Over time, however, values and attitudes American Civil War regarding public lands shifted. Many significant laws and events led to the establishment of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and 1934 laid the foundation for its mission to sustain the health, diversity, and 1872 1894 Taylor Grazing Act productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of General Mining Law Carey Act authorizes authorizes grazing 1917 • 1918 present and future generations. identifies mineral transfer of up to districts, grazing lands as a distinct 1 million acres of World War I regulation, and www.blm.gov/history 1824 1837 1843 1850 1860 class of public lands public desert land to 1906 1929 public rangeland subject to exploration, states for settling, improvements in Office of Indian On its 25th “Great Migration” First railroad land First Pony Express Antiquities Act Great Depression occupation, and irrigating, and western states 1783 1812 Affairs is established anniversary, the on the Oregon Trail grants are made in rider leaves 1889 preserves and 1911 purchase under cultivating purposes. Begins (excluding Alaska) General in the Department General Land Office begins. Illinois, Alabama, and St. Joseph, Missouri. Oklahoma Land Rush protects prehistoric, Weeks Act permits Revolutionary War ends stipulated conditions. and establishes the Land Office of War and is later has 65 district Mississippi. begins the disposal of historic, and the federal purchase 1897 Division of Grazing is established transferred to land offices. 1844 1862 federal public domain scientifically of private land 1776 Establishment of Forest Management (later renamed the within the the Department of First geological Homestead Act lands in Oklahoma. significant sites on to protect the 1920 Declaration of Yellowstone National “Organic” Act U.S. Grazing Service) 1785 1803 Treasury the Interior surveys of public entitles settlers to public lands and headwaters of rivers Mineral Leasing Act Independence Meriwether Lewis Park marks a shift transfers fire within the Department Land Ordinance Ohio becomes the Department lands are initiated 160 acres of public creates national and watersheds and authorizes federal is signed. Workers joining from disposition to protection of the Interior. allows settlement of first state created to oversee by the General Land land after they reside monuments. calls for cooperative leasing of public lands the tracks for conservation and responsibilities for public domain lands from the public disposition of Office in Michigan. the first on and cultivate the fire protection efforts. for private extraction protection of federal forest reserves from 1937 1778 and establishes domain. ceded and Homestead transcontinental land for 5 years. of oil, gas, coal, railroad lands. the Department of Oregon and California Second Continental the government’s acquired lands. 1849 Travel across the desert 1916 phosphate, sodium, Army to the General (O&C) Revested Congress begins rectangular survey Department of the Transcontinental in California Stock Raising and other minerals. 1877 Land Office. Lands Sustained persuading states to system. Interior is established Railroad Act gives Homestead William Clark Desert Land Act Yield Management cede land to create and the General Land railroad companies Act authorizes 1926 authorizes the 1898 Act requires O&C the public domain. 1789 Office is transferred to rights-of-way and homesteads of Recreation and disposition of Congress extends Railroad lands U.S. Constitution the new department. alternate sections of 640 acres and Public Purposes Act 640-acre tracts homestead laws to to be managed gives Congress the public domain lands separates surface allows conveyance of public lands to Alaska. for permanent “Power to dispose along both sides of Theodore Roosevelt and rights from subsurface or lease of public homesteaders upon John Muir, 1903 forest production of and make all their railroads. (mineral) rights. lands to state and proof of reclamation and provides for needful Rules local governments for of the lands by watershed protection, and Regulations 1869 outdoor recreation irrigation. Oklahoma Land Rush regulation of respecting The First transcontinental purposes. streamflow, and Territory and other railroad is completed 1878 recreational facilities. Property belonging to at Promontory Timber and Stone the United States.” Lewis’ and Clark’s path across the western portion of North America, published 1814 Summit, Utah. Act authorizes the 1939 Land Acquisitions of the United States negotiated sale Alaskan Fire Control 1783 1803 1819 1845 1846 1848 1853 1867 of lands that are Service is created Lands south of the Great Lakes Louisiana Purchase Spanish cession of Florida and Republic of Texas Oregon compromise Mexico cedes California Gadsden Purchase adds United States purchases valuable for either within the General and east of the Mississippi River nearly doubles the size boundary adjustments west of the is annexed by the gives the United States and vast areas of the almost 19 million acres of Alaska, adding 375 logging or mining and Land Office to prevent John Trumbull’s painting, are ceded to the United States. of the United States. Mississippi River add more than 46 United States. claim to part of the Pacific inland West to the public lands in southern million acres to the otherwise unfit for and suppress fires on Declaration of Independence million acres to the public domain. Northwest. United States. Arizona and New Mexico. public domain. cultivation. Evening campfire, 1926 Alaska public lands. 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 Tent Rocks National Monument Cadastral surveyors Alaska pipeline Wind energy project Monitoring trees in Oregon in Wyoming in New Mexico Northern spotted owl in Oregon 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act provides for 1980 settlement of aboriginal land claims of Alaskan Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act Natives and Native groups; the BLM is tasked with designates and conserves public lands in Alaska the largest U.S. land transfer effort ever undertaken. as national parks, wildlife refuges, wild and scenic Oil well operation rivers, wilderness, and forests and provides for Johnny Horizon Cleanup Days near petroglyphs Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act subsistence use by rural Alaska residents. 1953 in California, 1969 provides for the protection and management 2000 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act authorizes the of these animals on federal lands. Energy Security Act promotes the development National Landscape Conservation System Secretary of the Interior to lease mineral lands 1960 of alternative energy sources such as oil shale, is established. more than 3 miles offshore; the BLM assumes Public Land Administration Act allows the use of 1973 synthetic fuel, wind power, and geothermal sources. 2012 responsibility for leasing through competitive sales. donations and cooperative agreements to improve Endangered Species Act requires the conservation of Executive Order 13175 mandates consultation 200th anniversary of the General Land Office and 1941 • 1945 and better manage public lands. threatened and endangered plants and animals and The BLM completes its first resource management and collaboration with tribal officials in developing the 150th anniversary of the Homestead Act World War II 1954 the ecosystems upon which they depend. plan, covering the California Desert Conservation federal policy that has tribal implications. Recreation and Public Purposes Act amends the 1964 Area, and designates its first areas of critical 1926 act and allows the sale and lease of public Public Land Law Review Commission is 1975 environmental concern in Utah and California. 2005 lands for other purposes in addition to recreation. established to study public land laws and make Energy Policy and Conservation Act addresses 1990 long-term recommendations for public land use. energy demands and establishes a strategic Northern spotted owl is listed as a threatened Energy Policy Act ensures energy efficiency 1983 and the production of secure, affordable, and The BLM reorganizes and creates petroleum reserve. species under the Endangered Species Act, Bear Trap Canyon in southwestern Montana is reliable domestic energy. An environmental education a state office system. Wilderness Act protects undeveloped federal land designated by Congress as BLM’s first wilderness leading to an enjoinment of all timber sales on program in Colorado 1976 1942 to preserve its natural condition. area (it later became part of Lee Metcalf Wilderness). federal lands within its range. Federal Land Policy and Management Act requires 2008 Extensive withdrawals of public lands for military 1955 that public lands be managed for multiple uses BLM-managed lands are officially designated as the and defense use begin, with more than Multiple Surface Use Act withdraws common The BLM adopts a new logo. The BLM transfers responsibility for offshore leasing 1992 and sustained yield through land use planning. National System of Public Lands. 13 million acres withdrawn in 2 years. varieties of minerals from entry as mining claims to the Minerals Management Service. Energy Policy Act increases focus on alternative and allows claim owners to use the surface for 1965 energy sources, energy efficiency, and reducing the 2009 mining operation purposes only. Land and Water Conservation Management of the National Petroleum Reserve– country’s reliance on foreign fuel sources. 1946 1987 Omnibus Public Land Management Act Fund is established for federal Alaska is transferred to the BLM. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is established Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act authorizes the 26-million-acre National 1959 acquisition of outdoor recreation areas. 1993 within the Department of the Interior through the 1977 establishes a new leasing system and changes Landscape Conservation System and Wild Horse Protection Act prohibits the roundup of Presidential summit leads to the development of consolidation of the General Land Office and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act certain operational procedures for onshore resources establishes permit requirements and penalties wild horses by aircraft and motor vehicles. 1966 the Northwest Forest Plan to address human U.S. Grazing Service. ensures environmental safeguards for mining and on federal lands. National Historic Preservation Act expands and environmental needs in areas within the for unauthorized removal of paleontological reclamation of mined areas. protection of prehistoric and historic properties. northern spotted owl region. resources from federal lands. Today, the BLM benefits the national Trans Alaska Pipeline System begins transporting economy as well as the economies of local 1968 oil 800 miles from Alaska’s North Slope 1994 communities. Activities on BLM lands, Wild and Scenic Rivers and National Trails to the Port of Valdez. BLM Summit, the first ever gathering of all System Acts preserve sites with outstanding BLM managers, resulted in the such as energy production, mineral natural, cultural, scenic, historic, and recreational 1978 development of a new strategic vision extraction, timber harvesting, grazing, significance. for the BLM. Public Rangelands Improvement Act requires and recreation, result in jobs and income inventory, determination of trends, and from goods and services associated with Johnny Horizon program promotes public improvement of public rangelands. Rangeland Reform ’94 amends grazing regulations awareness of BLM-administered lands. and establishes Resource Advisory Councils. public land resources. In 2010, the BLM’s 1979 management of public lands contributed 1969 Archaeological Resources Protection Act requires 1996 more than $112 billion to the national National Environmental Policy Act requires federal permits for excavation or removal of these resources Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is economy and supported more than agencies to assess the impacts of their actions on from federal lands and provides stringent criminal designated by Presidential proclamation as Femur bone fossil found on Alaska Natives filleting salmon in Alaska, 1985 BLM land in Wyoming 500,000 American jobs. BLM range grass study, 1959 the environment. and civil penalties for violations. BLM’s first national monument. 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 BLM/WO/GI-12/004+2000 • PMDS Number P-468