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Show what over 1.5 billion acres are in private or state ownership. If one excludes Alaska, this is nearly four-fifths of the total area of the Nation. It is obvious that past and present Federal land laws and policies concerning the disposal or retention of public land have shaped the mosaic of land uses over most of the United States. It is equally obvious that future public land laws and policies relating to the retention or disposal of the remaining public land will greatly influence American land use and the quality of life in the years ahead. During most of the 19th century, our public land policy was basically one of disposal into non-Federal ownership to encourage settlement and development of the country. Those lands most favorably situated for mineral development, agriculture, and townsites were settled first. And land grants to states and to railroads resulted in areas of land being transferred out of Federal ownership. Many of these grants, which were made to provide the states with a basis for development and to encourage the westward spread of railroads, were made in a manner that much unfavorably, as well as favorably, situated land was placed in non-Federal ownership. On the whole, however, the best and most productive land was settled first. Therefore, as a general rule, the land in non-Federal ownership is the most valuable, and the residual Federal holdings tend to be those with the least economic potential. There are, of course, significant exceptions. Beginning just prior to 1900, the emphasis in public land policy began to shift toward the retention of some lands in Federal ownership. Millions of acres of land were set aside to be held as national forests, national parks, or other conservation and management units. Many of these lands were or became highly valuable. The timberlands that were placed in the national forests of the Pacific Northwest, largely during the early conservation period from 1891 to 1920, were recognized even then as having great commercial value. And many of the national park areas were potentially valuable not only for their splendid scenery, but for their resource values as well. In fact, reservation of the parks was often necessary to protect them from resource development. The policy of reservation of lands for parks and forests did not halt large scale disposals after 1900. Homesteading was still a means of considerable Federal land into private ownership until the 1930's. But by this time most of the land suitable for farming under the existing conditions was in private ownership. The Taylor Grazing Act of 1934,5 which 43 U.S.C. §§ 315 et. seq. (1964). stabilized the range livestock industry, brought the era of homesteading largely to an end. The lands that remained in the unappropriated and unreserved public domain, outside of those in Alaska, were mainly the arid and semiarid grazing lands of the West. These lands, together with the national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges, and other similar Federal lands are the subject of this report. Uses of the Public Lands Just as the public lands themselves are diverse, the resources and uses of these lands also exhibit great diversity. Logging, mining, and grazing have always been important uses of public land. And recreation, watershed protection, and other uses of land in its semiwild state are becoming increasingly important. Some of the lands are still potentially valuable for agriculture and others have great potential value as a place for cities and towns to develop and expand. Magnificent scenery and incomparable wilderness also characterize much of the public land. These environmental resources are a national treasure for all the American people. As did Gifford Pinchot, the Commission recognized that these resources have a direct bearing on the material well-being of all the American people, wherever they live. And we have also recognized their importance as recreational resources and as part of our heritage. The public lands have been important in the past and we are committed to the principle that they continue to be available to serve the Nation's needs in the future. If one excludes Alaska, which possesses vast areas never subjected to anything more than casual human use, the most widespread economic use of public lands has been, and is today, for the grazing of domestic livestock. Over one-third of our public land is administered for grazing. While grazing is an extensive use of relatively low value lands, cattle and sheep grazed on the public lands are important to the livestock industry of the Nation and as the economic basis for many western communities. Timber production is also a widespread use of undeveloped lands. The public lands include about 100 million acres of land classed as commercial forest, which is being managed to maintain a sustained yield of wood products. Because many of the national forests were reserved in the mountainous areas of the West, much of the commercial forest land has never been logged. But in recent years, the timber cut has increased to the point where the public lands now support nearly one-third of the Nation's total production. These forests are important as a Diversity of Vegetation on the Public Lands: Pinyon-juniper region of the Upper Desert (top); sagebrush (center); and timber country west of the Continental Divide. 28 |