Back when our country was founded, government ownership of land was considered a bad thing.
When new lands became available west of the original 13 colonies in the 1800's, the Homestead Act was passed to provide an orderly transition to private ownership and development. But somehow, during the first half of the 20th century, the government decided to transfer all remaining land to various agencies to hold in perpetuity.
Note that the Constitution does not grant the government the power to own land at all.
The magnitude of the problem is shown by this map.
Click image for larger version
I note that the Indian reservations are shown, but although they are
officially government land, recent case law and other rulings have made
them sovereign -- at least to an extent.
So why does the government own most of the land in the western states?
Why should they impoverish the western states (and not the
eastern, mid-western, and southern states) by holding nearly all of
their mineral and grazing rights?
No wonder land costs so much in the west and southwest where I want to retire. The government owns nearly all of it west of the front range of the Rocky Mountains except for cities, strips along roads, and agricultural areas that were settled before the feds started grabbing.
They could sell it all off over the next 10 years, and easily pay off the national debt.
They could sell it all off over the next 10 years, and easily pay off the national debt.
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