225 Years of Land Management in the United States

1. 225 Years of Land Management in the United States Robert W. Foster

2. 225 Years of land management in the United States Land Management: The operation and regulation of the use of land for the public benefit. May be both passive and purposive management over publicly- or privately-owned land.

3. 225 Years of land management in the United States • U.S. Congress Land Ordinance of 1785 • Lands westerly of original colonial territories • Division of land 6 mile square townships 36 sections,640 acres each

4. 225 Years of land management in the United States • 1803 Louisiana Purchase • 530 million acres • $23 million • Purchased from France • From Gulf of Mexico to British N.A. • From Mississippi River to Rocky Mtns

6. 225 Years of land management in the United States • 1862 Homestead Act of Congress • One-quarter section grant to citizens • 270 million acres granted to 1.5 million people by end of 19th century

7. 225 Years of land management in the United States • Expansion of railroads west • E.g. 20 million-acre grant to Northern Pacific Railroad • More than 90 million acres granted to 70 railway systems in 19th century

8. 225 Years of land management in the United States • Department of Interior est. 1849 • Responsibilities: • Land and natural resources management • Native American affairs • Wildlife conservation • Territorial affairs

9. 225 Years of land management in the United States • Operating units • Bureau of Indian Affairs • Bureau of Land Management • Bureau of Ocean Energy Mgt • Bureau of Reclamation • National Park Service • Office of Surface Mining • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service • U.S. Geological Survey

10. 225 Years of land management in the United States • DOI passive management: • 907 million acres surface land • 476 dams, 348 reservoirs • 388 National Parks • 544 National wildlife refuges

11. 225 Years of land management in the United States • DOI purposive management: • Blythe Solar Power Project • California • 7,025 acres public lands • 30-year right-of-way grant to “Solar Millenium” • To produce 1,000 megawatts of power

12. 225 Years of land management in the United States • Management of privately-owned land • Passive management by government • By each of the 50 states according to state legislation • Typical elements (state of Massachusetts) • Zoning control • Low/moderate income housing provisions • Planning control • Wetlands protection

13. 225 Years of land management in the United States • Real estate gridlock: “Too many people blocking each other from creating or using a scarce resource.” • Solution: Eminent domain (expropriation) • Example: • New York City, 14 parcels land, $85 million appraised value • Taken by city by eminent domain, conveyed to New York Times; $250 new appraised value

14. 225 Years of land management in the United States • Real estate gridlock, eminent domain relief, example: • Kelo v. City of New London, U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a taking by eminent domain of a single family residence followed by conveyance to developer for privately-financed commercial project. • Court: How eminent domain power is used should be decided by the individual states.

15. 225 Years of land management in the United States Land management in the U.S. is practiced at different jurisdictional levels according to legislation and may be tested through the judicial process; and is practiced in both the passive and purposive manner through the permitting process (passive) or the directly active, purposive manner as through the grant of land or permission to use the public lands.