In all modern
statesA sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state...
, some land is held by central or local
governmentA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
s. This is called
public land. The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries. The following examples illustrate some of the range.
In several
CommonwealthThe Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the Commonwealth and previously as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-three independent member states. Most of them were formerly part of the British Empire. They co-operate within a framework of common values...
countries such as
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
and
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, public lands are referred to as
Crown landCrown land is a designated area belonging to the Crown, the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
s. Recent proposals to sell Crown lands have been highly controversial.
In
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, public land may he held by communes,
départements, or the central
StateA sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state...
.
In the United States governmental entities including cities, counties, states, and the federal government all manage land which are referred to as either
public lands or the
public domainPublic domain is a term used to describe lands that were not under private or state ownership during the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States, as the country was expanding. These lands were obtained from the 13 original colonies, from Native American tribes, or from purchase from other...
.
The majority of public lands in the United States are held in trust for the American people by the federal government and managed by the
Bureau of Land ManagementThe Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately 264 million acres or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. Most public lands are located in western states...
(BLM), the United States National Park Service,
Bureau of ReclamationThe Bureau of Reclamation is an agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and/or operation of numerous water diversion, delivery, and storage and hydroelectric power generation projects it built throughout...
, or the
Fish and Wildlife ServiceThe United States Fish and Wildlife Service is the unit of the U.S. Department of the Interior dedicated to the management and preservation of wildlife.Units within the FWS include:* National Wildlife Refuge System* * Federal Duck Stamp...
under the
Department of the InteriorThe United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, and to...
, or the
United States Forest ServiceThe United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass 193 million acres...
under the
Department of AgricultureThe United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
.
In all modern
statesA sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state...
, some land is held by central or local
governmentA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
s. This is called
public land. The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries. The following examples illustrate some of the range.
Commonwealth countries
In several
CommonwealthThe Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the Commonwealth and previously as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-three independent member states. Most of them were formerly part of the British Empire. They co-operate within a framework of common values...
countries such as
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
and
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, public lands are referred to as
Crown landCrown land is a designated area belonging to the Crown, the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
s. Recent proposals to sell Crown lands have been highly controversial.
France
In
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, public land may he held by communes,
départements, or the central
StateA sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state...
.
United States
In the United States governmental entities including cities, counties, states, and the federal government all manage land which are referred to as either
public lands or the
public domainPublic domain is a term used to describe lands that were not under private or state ownership during the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States, as the country was expanding. These lands were obtained from the 13 original colonies, from Native American tribes, or from purchase from other...
.
The majority of public lands in the United States are held in trust for the American people by the federal government and managed by the
Bureau of Land ManagementThe Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately 264 million acres or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. Most public lands are located in western states...
(BLM), the United States National Park Service,
Bureau of ReclamationThe Bureau of Reclamation is an agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and/or operation of numerous water diversion, delivery, and storage and hydroelectric power generation projects it built throughout...
, or the
Fish and Wildlife ServiceThe United States Fish and Wildlife Service is the unit of the U.S. Department of the Interior dedicated to the management and preservation of wildlife.Units within the FWS include:* National Wildlife Refuge System* * Federal Duck Stamp...
under the
Department of the InteriorThe United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, and to...
, or the
United States Forest ServiceThe United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass 193 million acres...
under the
Department of AgricultureThe United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
. Other federal agencies that manage public lands include the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
and the
United States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military...
, which includes the
U.S. Army Corps of EngineersThe United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
.
In general,
CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
must legislate the creation of new public lands, such as national parks; however, under the 1906
Antiquities ActThe Antiquities Act of 1906, officially An Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities , is an act passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906 giving the President of the United States authority to restrict the use of particular public land...
, the
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
may designate new
national monumentsA National Monument in the United States is a protected area or a historic site that is similar to a National Park except that the President of the United States can quickly declare an area of the United States to be a National Monument without the approval of Congress...
without congressional authorization.
Each western state also received federal "public land" as trust lands designated for specific beneficiaries, which the States are to manage as a condition to acceptance into the union. Those trust lands cannot any longer be considered public lands as allowing any benefits to the "public" would be in breach of loyalty to the specific beneficiaries. The trust lands (two sections, or about per
townshipA township in the United States is a small geographic area. Townships range in size from 6 to 54 square miles , with 36 square miles being the norm.The term is used in two ways....
) are usually managed extractively (grazing or mining), to provide revenue for public schools. All states have some lands under state management, such as
state parkState parks are parks or other protected areas of the United States and in Mexico for an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreation, or other reason, and under the administration of the government of a U.S. state or one of the states of Mexico. State...
s, state wildlife management areas, and
state forestState forest is a term with differing meanings in different countries.*In Australia, it refers to forest that is protected by state laws, rather than by the Government of Australia....
s.
WildernessWilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...
is a special designation for public lands which have been completely undeveloped. The concept of wilderness areas was legislatively defined by the 1964 Wilderness Act. Wilderness areas can be managed by any of the above Federal agencies, and some parks and refuges are almost entirely designated wilderness. A wilderness study area is a tract of land that has wilderness characteristics, and is managed as wilderness, but has not received a wilderness designation from Congress.
Typically each parcel is governed by its own set of laws and rules that explain the purpose for which the land was acquired, and how the land may be used.
The private uses of public lands continues to be a challenging issue in the United States. Environmental groups have used the Public Trust Doctrine to re-establish rights to common resources such as water in the arid west and in Hawaii. An expanded vision of the Public Trust doctrine that includes soils, air and other species has been argued.
http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/122/ Recently there have also been increasing efforts to privatize many public lands through land trades and other privatization schemes.
http://www.endgame.org/commcomm.html
Recreation on U.S. public lands
Most state- and federally managed public lands are open for recreational use. Recreation opportunities depend on the managing agency, and run the gamut from the free-for-all, undeveloped wide open spaces of BLM lands to the highly developed and controlled national and state parks. Wildlife refuges and state wildlife management areas, managed primarily to improve
habitatA habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular animal and plant species...
, are generally open to wildlife watching, hiking, and hunting, except for closures to protect mating and nesting, or to reduce stress on wintering animals. National forests generally have a mix of maintained trails and roads, wilderness and undeveloped portions, and developed picnic and camping areas.
Grazing on U.S. public lands
Historically in the western United States, most public land is leased for grazing by cattle or sheep. This includes vast tracts of National Forest and BLM land, as well as land on Wildlife Refuges. National Parks are the exception. This use became controversial in the late 20th century as it was examined by environmentalists.
External links for U.S. public lands
Further reading
- Nancy Ferguson, Sacred Cows at the Public Trough, Maverick Publications (December, 1983), trade paperback, ISBN 0-89288-091-0