This shocking map illustrates how much land the Federal Government really owns
07/08/2017 // Amy Goodrich // Views

Though most of us know the American federal government owns some land, not many people realize how much exactly is controlled by the feds. Today, they hold approximately 640 million acres of land or 28 percent of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States. Around 92 percent of all the federally owned acres are in the West.

According to shocking statistics published by Ballotpedia, the federal government collectively owns 47 percent of all land in 12 western states. Interestingly, states East of the Mississippi River seem to be less controlled by the feds, with only 4 percent of all land owned by the government. Given the very poor management of the government, many states are calling for a reduction in federal land ownership and more control for the states.

Did you know 84.9 percent of Nevada, 64.9 percent of Utah, 61.6 percent of Idaho, and 52.9 percent of Oregon are federally-owned? Though Nevada has the greatest percentage of land owned by the feds within a state, Alaska has the most land total owned by the federal government. A whopping 223.8 million acres (or 61.2 percent) in Alaska are owned by the feds.

Other states where the feds own a vast amount of land include Washington (28.5 percent), Montana (29.0 percent), New Mexico (34.7 percent), Colorado (35.9 percent), Arizona (38.6 percent), California (45.8 percent), and Wyoming (48.1 percent).

These numbers stand in sharp contrast to states as Connecticut and Iowa, where the federal government only possesses 0.3 percent of all land. This huge difference makes you wonder why so many acres are owned by the feds in the western states.

Brighteon.TV

Federal landowners are bad neighbors

The Heritage Foundation noted that uses of federal lands include national parks, national forests, recreation areas, wildlife refuges, vast tracts of range and wasteland managed by the Bureau of Land Management, reservations held in trust for Native American tribes, military bases, and ordinary federal buildings and installations.

Though nobody will dispute the fact that the government needs a certain amount of land for national purposes, do they really need that much? If the federal government would do a good job there wouldn’t be much of an issue. Unfortunately, the majority of federal land managers have an extremely bad reputation.

According to Sue Lani Madsen, frustrated local federal land managers are hindered by layers of internal regulations and restricted funding that make a timely response to weed outbreaks difficult. Since federal land is exempt from state noxious weed control laws, having a federally owned plot of land next door is bad news.

Also, due to mismanagement, wildfires tend to spread very rapidly in areas controlled by the federal government. As reported by The Economic Collapse Blog, over 2.6 million acres of land has gone up in flames in 2017 alone.

Since the feds don’t care about local issues or concerns, it can be very frustrating for people living in areas where the federal government is in control of vast stretches of the state. Wouldn’t it be better if the land and its natural resources were owned and managed by the people who live in the state?

Though Sue Lani Madsen quoted a study which found that it is more profitable for states to manage their own public lands, those that are against transferring ownership of federal land to the states often argue that it would be too expensive for the states to handle the extra costs.

Writing for the Economic Collapse Blog Michael Snyder noted: “At the end of the day, this is just another area where we need to readjust the balance of power between the states and the federal government. Our founders intended to create a system where the states had much more power than the central government, but instead that has become totally flipped around.”

Sources include:

TheEconomiCcollapseBlog.com

Ballotpedia.org

Heritage.org



Take Action:
Support Natural News by linking to this article from your website.
Permalink to this article:
Copy
Embed article link:
Copy
Reprinting this article:
Non-commercial use is permitted with credit to NaturalNews.com (including a clickable link).
Please contact us for more information.
Free Email Alerts
Get independent news alerts on natural cures, food lab tests, cannabis medicine, science, robotics, drones, privacy and more.
App Store
Android App
eTrust Pro Certified

This site is part of the Natural News Network © 2022 All Rights Reserved. Privacy | Terms All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing International, LTD. is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published here. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.

This site uses cookies
Natural News uses cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy.
Learn More
Close
Get 100% real, uncensored news delivered straight to your inbox
You can unsubscribe at any time. Your email privacy is completely protected.