Federal lands
Federal lands are lands in the United States for which ownership is claimed by the U.S. federal government, pursuant to Article Four, section 3, clause 2 of the United States Constitution.[1] As of March 2012, out of the 2.27 billion acres in the country, about 28% of the total was owned by the Federal government according to the Interior Department.[2] The United States Supreme Court has upheld the broad powers of the federal government to deal with federal lands, for example having unanimously held in Kleppe v. New Mexico[3] that "the complete power that Congress has over federal lands under this clause necessarily includes the power to regulate and protect wildlife living there, state law notwithstanding."[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Map_of_all_U.S._Federal_Land.jpg/450px-Map_of_all_U.S._Federal_Land.jpg)
History
When Texas was annexed into the United States in 1845, it was able to "retain all the vacant and unappropriated lands lying within its limits".[4]
Primary federal land holders
Primary laws regarding federal lands
- Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
- Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
- Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)
- Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA)
- Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (Baca Act) (P.L. 106-248)
- Mineral Leasing Act
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
- Omnibus Public Land Management Act (Public Law 111-11)
- Taylor Grazing Act (43 U.S.C. 315 et seq.)
- Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971
See also
- Crown Estate
- Article Four of the United States Constitution#Clause 2: Federal property and the Territorial Clause
References
- ^ a b Paul Rodgers, United States Constitutional Law: An Introduction (2011), p. 100-101.
- ^ Lipton, Eric, and Clifford Krauss, "Giving Reins to the States Over Drilling", New York Times, August 23, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
- ^ Kleppe v. New Mexico, 426 U.S. 529 (1976).
- ^ Joint Resolution for annexing Texas to the United States, J.Res. 8, enacted March 1, 1845, 5 Stat. 797. Joint Resolution for the admission of the state of Texas into the Union, J.Res. 1, enacted December 29, 1845, 9 Stat. 108.
- Gorte, Ross W.; Vincent, Carol Hardy; Hanson, Laura A.; Rosenblum, Marc R. (February 8, 2012), Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data, Congressional Research Service