Federal land ownership by state
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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.[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]
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
Footnotes
- ↑ 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 - ↑ 2.0 2.1 U.S. Congressional Research Service, "Federal Lands and Natural Resources: Overview and Selected Issues for the 113th Congress," December 8, 2014
