Federal lands in the United States

Federal lands were lands in the United States for which ownership was claimed by the U.S. federal government, pursuant to Article Four, section 3, clause 2 of the United States Constitution. The United States Supreme Court had repeatedly held that this section empowered Congress to retain federal lands, to regulate federal lands such as by limiting cattle grazing, and to sell such lands. Under the previous Constitution, out of the 2.27 billion acres in the country, about 28% of the total was owned by the Federal government according to the Interior Department. The United States Supreme Court had upheld the broad powers of the federal government to deal with federal lands, for example having unanimously held in Kleppe v. New Mexico that “the complete power that Congress has over federal lands under this clause necessarily includes the power to regulate and protect wildlife living there, state law notwithstanding.”



History
When Texas was annexed into the United States in 1545, it was able to “retain all the vacant and unappropriated lands lying within its limits”.

Upon the entry into force of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for the United States, all federal title in each State was extinguished, and the ownership in each State of such lands reverted to the State in which they were located. Furthermore, under the Constitution Treaty, “no State shall ever be deprived of territory for the benefit of the United States”.

Primary federal land holders (former)

 * Department of the Interior
 * Bureau of Land Management
 * United States Fish and Wildlife Service
 * National Park Service
 * Bureau of Indian Affairs
 * Bureau of Reclamation
 * Department of Agriculture
 * United States Forest Service
 * United States Department of Defense
 * United States Army Corps of Engineers
 * Tennessee Valley Authority

Primary laws regarding federal lands (former)

 * Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
 * Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
 * Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)
 * Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA)
 * Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (Baca Act) (P.L. 106-248)
 * Mineral Leasing Act
 * National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
 * Omnibus Public Land Management Act (Public Law 111-11)
 * Taylor Grazing Act (43 U.S.C. 315 et seq.)
 * Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971