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