Federal Lands

During fiscal years 1964-93, the amount of federal land managed by the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service decreased by 77 million acres, from about 700 million acres to about 623 million acres. However, the decrease is skewed because of two unique land transfers in Alaska--the transfer of about 76 million acres of federal land to the state of Alaska in accordance with the Alaska Statehood Act of 1958 and the transfer of about 36 million acres to native Alaskans in accordance with the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. Excluding these two large land transfers, the amount of land managed by the four agencies actually increased by 34 million acres. During the same 29-year period, the number of acres managed by the four agencies that were set aside for conservation purposes increased from about 51 million acres at the end of fiscal year 1964 to about 271 million acres at the end of fiscal year 1993. GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see: Federal Lands: Information on Land Owned and on Acreage With Conservation Restrictions, by John H. Anderson, Jr., Associate Director for Natural Resources Management Issues, before the House Committee on Resources. GAO/T-RCED-95-117, Mar. 2, 1995 (11 pages).

GAO found that: (1) the overall amount of federal land managed by the four agencies decreased from about 701 million acres to about 623 million acres during the 29-year period; (2) almost all of the decrease in federal lands was due to two large land transfers to Alaska upon statehood and to Native Alaskans pursuant to their land claims; (3) excluding these transfers, the four agencies increased their managed lands by about 34 million acres during the period through transfers from the Bureau of Land Management and new acquisitions; (4) the four agencies managed over 50 percent of the land in five states, over 25 percent of the land in seven additional states, and over 27 percent of the nation's total acreage in fiscal year (FY) 1993; (5) since FY 1993, the four agencies' managed acreage has increased due to the expansion or creation of national forests, wildlife refuges, and parks; (6) the amount of land encumbered for conservation purposes increased from about 51 million acres in FY 1964 to about 271 million acres in FY 1993; and (7) Congress has restricted additional federal lands for conservation purposes since FY 1993.