Download - Public Land Policy
Public Land Policy
Resource Exploitation 1865-1890
Homestead Act of 1862
1872 mining law
Goal--encouraged the settlement of the landMeans-- Privatization
Efficiency Movement 1890-1920
Taylor Grazing Act of 1934
Bureau of Forestry- G. Pinchot
Gospel of Efficiency
“Conservation is the greatest good for the greatest # of people for the longest time”
Federal Reclamation Service, 1902
Preservation Movement
-Creation of National Park System,
Antiquities Act, Fish and Wildlife Service
"The man should have youth and strength who seeks adventure in the wide, waste spaces of the earth, in the marshes, and among the vast mountain masses, in the northern forests, amid the steaming jungles of the tropics, or on the desert of sand or of snow. He must long greatly for the lonely winds that blow across the wilderness, and for sunrise and sunset over the rim of the empty world."
Theodore Roosevelt
Big QuestionsWhat is land good for?Who makes the decision?How to balance competing values?Role of public sector?Role of private sectorRole of science/values
Public LandsAdministered by different agencies
National Park Service (NPS)Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Interior Forest Service (FS) Agriculture
Different mission 29% of US land92% of lands are in 12 western states
National Park ServiceMost restrictive limits on usage77 million acresDiverse categories of units
National ParksNational PreservesNational MonumentsMisc
National Parks
National Preserves
Aniakchak Caldera Bering Land Bridge
Big Cypress Tallgrass Prairie
National Monuments
Canyon de Chelly
Saratoga National Battlefield
Pt. Reyes National Seashore
Recreation Conflict
National Wildlife Refuge System
Managed by Fish and Wildlife Service Responsibilities include
93 million acres in 512 national wildlife refuges, 198 waterfowl production areas, 50 wildlife coordination areas114 other sites
Mission- conserve and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats
Bureau of Land Management
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA)"multiple use"
"management of the public lands and their various resource values so that they are utilized in the combination that will best meet the present and future needs of the American people."
Multiple (!) Users
Resource UtilizationMining development and energy production
leasing of Federal oil and gas and geothermal mineralsmaintaining mining claims or sitesOil shale development
Livestock grazing
Overseeing production of oil and gas resources, geothermal resources, helium, solid minerals, coal, wind power, solar power, and minerals
Recreationhunting fishing camping hiking horseback riding boating white water rafting hang gliding
off-highway vehicle and pleasure driving mountain biking birding and wildlife viewing winter sports climbing visiting natural and cultural heritage sites
Bureau of Land ManagementNational Management Strategy for Motorized Off-Highway Vehicle Use
Bureau of Land ManagementNational Management Strategy for Motorized Off-Highway Vehicle Use
Bureau of Land ManagementNational Management Strategy for Motorized Off-Highway Vehicle Use
California Desert
Wilderness AreasDesignated by Congress
“an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain…”
Designation criteriaimprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeableoutstanding opportunities for solitude may contain ecological, geological, other features
UseCommercial activities prohibitedPrimitive recreation only
Managed by BLM, NFS, NPS, & FWS
Roan Plateau, CO
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National Forest ServiceMotto: Caring for the Land and Serving Peoplearea similar to Texas - 8% of U.S. land massEarly mission: protect forest reserves from unrestrained logging
Multiple UseRecreation vs. Timber production
OverviewBLM & NFS big 2
60%+ public landsMultiple Use criteriaPolitically controversial
NPS11%
BLM36%
FWS13%
NFS26%
Wilderness14%
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument designated by Clinton 2000Utah Geological Survey- $223 -$331 billion in energy and mineral resources
Forest Service- Multiple Use