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Federal land ownership by state

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Revision as of 21:13, 3 October 2016 by Taylor Kempema (contribs) (Text replacement - "and the greatest percentage of federal land (61.2 percent)" to "while Nevada had the greatest percentage of federal land within a state (84.9 percent)")
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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 52 percent of federally owned acres are in 12 Western states. In contrast, the federal government owns 4 percent of land in the other 38 states.[1][2]

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.[1][2]

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.[1]


    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"

    Changes to federal land (1990-2013)

    The map below details changes to federal land ownership between 1990 and 2013. Iowa saw the largest percentage increase in federal land—a 72.8 percent increase from 1990, though the state has fewer federal acres than most other states. New York had 106 percent fewer acres of federal land in 2013 than it did in 1990—215,441 acres compared to 104,590 acres—the largest percentage decrease.

    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Congressional Research Service, "Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data," February 8, 2012 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "CRSoverview" defined multiple times with different content
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 U.S. Congressional Research Service, "Federal Lands and Natural Resources: Overview and Selected Issues for the 113th Congress," December 8, 2014
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