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Land Disposal Policies of the Principal Federal Land Management Agencies

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Land Disposal Policies of the Principal Federal Land Management Agencies LC /4.2/~:8)45b ENR APR 1 2 '1983 Report No. 81-156 ENR LAND DISPOSAL POLICIES OF THE PRINCIPAL FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCIES by Cynthia E. Huston Analyst in Natural Resources Policy Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division July 1, 1981 The Congressional Research Service works exclusively for the Congress, conducting research, analyzing legislation, and providing information at the request of committees, Mem- bers, and their staffs. The Service makes such research available, without parti- san bias, in many forms including studies, reports, compila- tions, digests, and background briefings. Upon request, CRS assists committees in analyzing legdative proposals and issues, and in assessing the possible effects of these proposals and their alternatives. The Service's senior specialists and subject analysts are also available for personal consultations in their respective fields of expertise. ABSTRACT While the heyday of large-scale disposal of Federal public land is long past, interest on the part of citizens and local and state governments in gaining title to such lands continues, and provisions still exist in law for transfer of title to some Federal public land. The report reviews the history of public land disposal and the location and uses of present Federal public lands. Land disposal policies and practices of agencies of the Department of Agriculuture, Defense and the Interior, and of the General Services Adminis- tration are discussed. An Appendix provides addresses of Bureau of Land Management State offices, and Forest Service and General Services Adminis- tration Regional offices. CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................. iii SUMMARY ................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 1 I . BACKGROUND .......................................................... 5 A . Historical Perspective on Public Land Disposal .................. 5 B . Location and Use of Public Lands ................................ 12 I1 DISPOSAL OF FEDERAL LAND BY AGENCIES WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ............................................................ 19 A . Bureau of Land Management ....................................... 19 1 . Principal Disposal Provisions of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act .......................................... 19 2 . Other Laws That Pertain to the Disposal of Public Lands ..... 23 3 . Mining Claims and Patents ................................... 29 4 . A Note About Alaska ..................................... 34 B . Bureau of Reclamation .......................................... 39 C . National Park Service ........................................... 41 D . Fish and Wildlife Service ....................................... 41 I11 . DISPOSAL OF FEDERAL LAND BY THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ......................................... 43 A . Exchanges and Sales............................................. 44 B . Mining in the National Forests .................................. 47 IV. DISPOSAL OF FEDERAL LAND BY THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ............... 51 V . DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS PROPERTY BY THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION . 53 APPENDIX: Addresses of Bureau of Land Management State Offices. Forest Service and General Services Administration Regional Offices ... 55 TABLES : TABLE 1. Disposition of the Original Public Domain (1781-1979) 6 TABLE 2 . Acreage of BLM and Forest Service Holdings in the Western States..................................... 14 TABLE 3 . Department of Natural Resources Land Disposal Pro- grams in Alaska ...................................... 38 SUMMARY The days in which the Federal Government provided cheap land for the taking are gone. Nevertheless, interest in obtaining Federal lands re- mains high, and it is still possible to obtain parcels of public lands un- der certain circumstances. The land disposal practices of the principal Federal land management agencies are summarized below. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM). As administrator of more than 400 million acres of public land, BLM is the only Federal agency which makes public domain land available for sale or other disposal on a rela- tively frequent basis. Criteria for sales and exchanges of BLM land are provided in Title I1 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), P.L. 94-579. This major piece of legislation repealed most prior law pertaining to the sale or disposal of the public lands and established new land sales proce- dures. Most final regulations to implement the sale of public lands under FLPMA have now been published. The regulations governing the sale pro- vision of FLPMA also provide a way for individuals to recommend that spe- cif ic tracts of land be offered for sale. In general, the sales take place at public auction and are conducted through the State BLM offices. The sale of a tract of public land is to be made at not less than fair market value. In addition to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, public land will continue to be available under certain other laws. Some irrigable arid and semi-arid lands will be available for selection under the Desert Land Act. Similar lands may become available in States that are still el- igible to patent land to settlers under the provisions of the Carey Act. Persons holding a valid mining claim under the 1872 Mining Act may also be eligible to receive title to the lands under claim. In addition, there are several other laws on the books that authorize the conveyance of land to States and local governments as well as private parties under certain circumstances. Repeal of the Homestead Act of 1862 by FLPMA went into effect immedi- ately in all States except Alaska, where the effective date of the repeal will be delayed until October 1986. For reasons explained in the main text of this report, however, it is unlikely that many homesteading grants can be made in Alaska during this interim. Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau, which is responsible for 6.6 million acres in 17 Western States, has a policy of retaining only those lands which are deemed necessary for reclamation project purposes. Once parcels of land are identified as unneeded, they are either sold by the Bureau of Reclamation or turned over to the BLM or the General Services Administra- tion, depending upon whether the land was originally withdrawn, acquired, exchanged or donated. Sales, however, have dwindled over the last several years because of the reduction in irrigation projects. On occasion, the Bureau exchanges unneeded lands on which there are facilities which inter- fere with a project. Exchanges are also possible under FLPMA. National Park Service. Land in the National Park System is not available for sale or exchange for all practical purposes. Occasionally, however, the Federal Government will authorize an exchange of private land within the boundaries of National Parks for cther Federal lands (generally BLM lands) outside of the Park boundaries. Fish and Wildlife Service. Land in the National Wildlife Refuge System, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not available for sale. At times, exchanges of land within the System may be undertaken for private lands of greater value for wildlife. The exchange mechanism is used strictly as a tool to improve or upgrade the refuge system. Forest Service. For all practical purposes, National Forest Sys- tem lands are not available for sale. The Forest Service is authorized to conduct land exchanges, however, if such exchanges would further the public interest. The decision to dispose of land is entirely discretionary on the part of the Service and the Secretary of Agriculture. Persons seeking further information should contact the supervisor of the unit of the National Forest in which the land of interest is located, or the appropriate regional office. It should also be noted that approximately 85 percent of the Nat- ional Forest System is open to mineral exploration and development. Department of Defense (DOD) The DOD regularly reviews Federal land under its jurisdiction (24.5 million acres at present) to identify lands which it no longer needs. If the land thus identified was originally part of the public domain, it goes to BLM for disposal or transfer; acquired land is subject to the surplus property disposal procedures of the General Services Administration. The Defense Department also has authority to exchange lands, but exchanges rarely materialize. General Services Administration (GSA) The GSA may, from time to time, sell lands that have been acquired by the Federal Government if those lands are no longer needed by -any of the Federal agencies. Surplus property offered for sale to private parties is ordinarily handled by a GSA regional office on a competitive bid basis. Scheduled sales are widely publicized. INTRODUCTION On October 21, 1976, President Ford signed P.L. 94-579, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), which in essence provides the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of the Department of the Interior with its first mandate to manage the public lands for permanent Federal ownership. Among other things, the Act removed from the books numerous nineteenth and early twentieth century laws authorizing the conveyance of Federal lands into private ownership and established new land sale procedures. One of the laws repealed by FLPMA was the Homestead Act of 1862 which had come to symbolize
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