Monday, December 17, 2018

Federal Land in Western States


The US Constitution (as written) prohibits the federal government from owning land that is not needed to function. It does allow the federal government to own land for offices and military bases in the US.

The US Land Mass is 3.979 million square miles. The US government owns about 1.114 million square miles or 28% of the US land mass.

Returning this land to productive use includes privatizing forest land for tree farms and grassland for ranches. The annual forest fires in government owned forests well consume 9 million acres in 2018. These forests need to be harvested and maintained to prevent the destruction these fires cause each year.

There are 11 Western States that should retake federal lands. The US federal government owns and controls about half the land mass in these Western States. Federal Land in these 11 States totals 498,091 square miles. This is 42% of the total land mass in these States.

Total Land Area by State

Washington: 71,300 square miles
Montana: 147,042 square miles
Oregon: 98,380 square miles
Idaho: 83,570 square miles
Wyoming: 97,813 square miles
California: 163,695 square miles
Nevada: 110,561 square miles
Utah: 84,899 square miles
Colorado: 104,093 square miles
Arizona: 113,998 square miles
New Mexico: 121,589 square miles

The total land mass in these 11 Western States is 1.196,940 square miles.


Federal Land by State by %

Washington 30.3% Montana 29.9% Oregon 53.1% Idaho 50.2% Wyoming 42.3% California 45.3% Nevada 54.5% Utah 57.4% Colorado 36.6% Arizona 48.1% New Mexico 41.8%


Federal Land by State in Square Miles

Washington 21,604
Montana 43,966
Oregon 52,240
Idaho 41,952
Wyoming 41,375
California 74,154
Nevada 30,256
Utah 48,789
Colorado 38,098
Arizona 54,833
New Mexico 50,824

The total owned by the federal government in these 11 States is 498,091 square miles.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

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