Federal land ownership by state

State environmental policy
U.S. environmental policy
Endangered species policy
State endangered species
Federal land policy
Environmental terms

The following article outlines federal land data for all 50 states. An overview of federal land policy and how federal land is managed can be accessed here.

The federal government owns around 640 million acres of land (about 28 percent) of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States. Around 92 percent of federally owned acres are in 12 Western states.

Four federal agencies—the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) within the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture—oversee roughly 95 percent, or 608 to 610 million acres, of federal land.

HIGHLIGHTS

Alaska had the most federal land (223.8 million acres) while Nevada had the greatest percentage of federal land within a state (84.9 percent).

Connecticut and Iowa tied for the lowest percentage of federal land at 0.3 percent each.

The federal government owned around 23.5 million fewer acres in 2013 than in 1990, a 3.8 percent decrease.

Federal land by state

The table below summarizes the total acres and percentage of federal land in each state as of 2013 (the most recent year for which data is available).

Alaska had the most federal land (223.8 million acres) while Nevada had the greatest percentage of federal land within a state (84.9 percent). In contrast, Rhode Island and Connecticut had the fewest acres of federal land: 5,157 acres and 8,752 acres, respectively. Connecticut and Iowa tied for the lowest percentage of federal land at 0.3 percent each.

Federal land ownership by state (as of 2013)
State	Federal land acreage	Total state acreage	Percentage of federal land
Alabama	844,026	32,678,400	2.6%
Alaska	223,803,098	365,481,600	61.2%
Arizona	28,064,307	72,688,000	38.6%
Arkansas	3,151,685	33,599,360	9.4%
California	45,864,800	100,206,720	45.8%
Colorado	23,870,652	66,485,760	35.9%
Connecticut	8,752	3,135,360	0.3%
Delaware	29,864	1,265,920	2.4%
Florida	4,599,919	34,721,280	13.2%
Georgia	1,474,225	37,295,360	4.0%
Hawaii	820,725	4,105,600	20.0%
Idaho	32,621,631	52,933,120	61.6%
Illinois	411,387	35,795,200	1.1%
Indiana	384,365	23,158,400	1.7%
Iowa	122,076	35,860,480	0.3%
Kansas	272,987	52,510,720	0.5%
Kentucky	1,094,036	25,512,320	4.3%
Louisiana	1,325,780	28,867,840	4.6%
Maine	211,125	19,847,680	1.1%
Maryland	197,894	6,319,360	3.1%
Massachusetts	61,802	5,034,880	1.2%
Michigan	3,633,323	36,492,160	10.0%
Minnesota	3,491,586	51,205,760	6.8%
Mississippi	1,546,433	30,222,720	5.1%
Missouri	1,635,122	44,248,320	3.7%
Montana	27,003,251	93,271,040	29.0%
Nebraska	546,759	49,031,680	1.1%
Nevada	59,681,502	70,264,320	84.9%
New Hampshire	798,718	5,768,960	13.8%
New Jersey	179,374	4,813,440	3.7%
New Mexico	26,981,490	77,766,400	34.7%
New York	104,590	30,680,960	0.3%
North Carolina	2,429,341	31,402,880	7.7%
North Dakota	1,736,611	44,452,480	3.9%
Ohio	305,641	26,222,080	1.2%
Oklahoma	701,365	44,087,680	1.6%
Oregon	32,614,185	61,598,720	52.9%
Pennsylvania	617,339	28,804,480	2.1%
Rhode Island	5,157	677,120	0.8%
South Carolina	846,420	19,374,080	4.4%
South Dakota	2,642,601	48,881,920	5.4%
Tennessee	1,273,175	26,727,680	4.8%
Texas	2,998,280	168,217,600	1.8%
Utah	34,202,920	52,696,960	64.9%
Vermont	464,644	5,936,640	7.8%
Virginia	2,514,596	25,496,320	9.9%
Washington	12,176,293	42,693,760	28.5%
West Virginia	1,133,587	15,410,560	7.4%
Wisconsin	1,793,100	35,011,200	5.1%
Wyoming	30,013,219	62,343,040	48.1%
United States total	623,313,931	2,271,343,360	27.4%
Source: U.S. Congressional Research Service, "Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data"

See also

• 

  Environmental policy in the U.S.

• 

  Energy policy in the U.S.

• 

  Endangered species policy in the U.S.

• Federal land policy
• Grazing permits on federal land
• BLM oil and gas leases by state

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