On game nights where your trove of random trivia facts becomes useful, you might get a question like, “Who is the largest landowner in the United States?” You may be tempted to think of folks like Bill Gates or John Malone who are gobbling up vast swaths of farmland and timberland. Then you remember that the top 50 landowners together only make up less than 2 percent of the United States landmass, so that can’t be quite right. You ponder and ponder until it hits you—the United States federal government owns a colossal 640 million acres. Or, to put it in perspective, more than a fourth of the acreage
And which parts of this bureaucratic landlord own the most? Let’s find out.
# 1: The Bureau of Land Management—244.4 million acres (10.06%)
Formed in 1946 from two prior agencies, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is one of the chief organizations of the Department of the Interior. The BLM is geared toward overseeing land permits and ensuring land is used according to the “multiple use” mandate. That is, the BLM is supposed to ensure land is used for things such as recreation, ranching, and industry—not just wildlife conservation and watershed protection.
With so much land, you’d think the BLM has enough. Never underestimate the greed of a hoarding dragon.
Ranching is a fragile industry, difficult and arduous in the face of both nature and the government. For the Hanley Family, it’s their way of life. Mike and Linda have been raising cattle in Idaho since the 1980s and had hoped to pass their ranch down to their daughter. And yet, despite the long practice of ranching inheritance, and despite all the laws and precedents that support it, the BLM created a new and illegal theory out of thin air to stop that tradition. Mountain States Legal Foundation filed an amicus brief in an effort to kill this serpent before it truly hatches from its corrupt egg.
Speaking of Idaho, we just launched a new case representing ranchers in the state trying to fend off the federal government to protect Idaho’s stock water. I recommend you see the case page to learn more about our work.
# 2: The Forest Service—192.9 million acres (7.94%)
The Forest Service is one of the oldest landlords in the government. Formed under the Department of Agriculture in 1905, the Forest Service—like the other agencies—manages land predominantly in Western states such as Colorado and Washington. It too, like the BLM, must adhere to the multiple use mandate.
Of course, the Forest Service gets rather presumptuous at times about such mandates. MSLF is currently litigating a case on just this problem. San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council v. Dallasis about whether the Forest Service can exclude motorized recreational vehicles such as four-wheelers and dirt bikes from the trails of the Rio Grande National Forest in Colorado. Environmentalists say they should have never been allowed in the first place. For folks like Don Riggle, motorized recreational vehicles are the only way Americans with disabilities can enjoy the beauty of our national forests. We’re fighting for folks like Don to enjoy the forests like everyone else.
# 3: The Fish and Wildlife Service—89.2 million acres (3.67%)
Since 1966, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)—another Department of the Interior agency—has administered the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS), a network of refuges and a host of other natural units. Unlike the BLM and Forest Service, the FWS’ primary directive is to manage land for conservation and restoration of habitat. Some industry is permitted, and recreation such as hunting and hiking are often included in planning, but the FWS is a conservation-first agency. Which usually means they require a lot of wildlife science to do their job.
But if you’re the radical Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), science doesn’t get in the way of environmentalist objectives. One of the species the FWS manages is the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear. Once a truly endangered species, the FWS has recommended since 2007 that the grizzly be removed from the Endangered Species List. Doing so would have enabled ranchers to appropriately hunt the bears and protect their livestock. Yet, the CBD—like every other litigious extremist group—sued the Fish and Wildlife Service for daring to do its job.
MSLF represents ranchers in Wyoming and Utah as it fights back against the CBD, which would commandeer the FWS for its own agenda. Our objective is to ensure that the power of the government is used for its intended purpose, and not the unfounded views of would-be “green tyrants.”
# 4: The National Park Service—79.9 million acres (3.29%)
The favored brainchild of Theodore Roosevelt, the National Park Service (NPS) was created in 1916 to manage all of the land units (over 400 today) that Congress has declared as parks and the president has proclaimed as monuments. The two-part mission of this Department of the Interior agency is to preserve resources and make such territory enjoyable to the public. This is why the NPS is one of the more well-known and popular land-owning agencies in the country.
And yet, the NPS has a dark side as well. You see, while only Congress can declare a unit a park with all of its protections, presidents can turn a piece of federal land into a monument at will. It truly does take only a phone and pen to do so. The question is whether the president can eliminate a national monument. If you’re an environmentalist, the short answer is no—the law does not grant him that power, even if it might permit a president to alter the size or purpose of the monument.
That’s hogwash. The power to create necessitates the power to destroy. This has been a long-standing principle under common law for centuries. And it’s why MSLF is doing something about it.
Environmentalists like the Wilderness Society would have it that no president (or at least, no conservative president) could make any changes to national monuments, let alone eliminate one. We filed a brief on behalf of two Utah counties to support the Trump Administration’s efforts to reduce the Grand Staircase Escalante Monument. President Trump’s order—aimed at assisting local economies—was an attempt to undo the huge expansion of the monument under the Obama and Clinton Administrations. It was a power grab then, and it remains so today. In the same way that we don’t want the Center for Biological Diversity to weaponize the Fish and Wildlife Service, we don’t want the Wilderness Society to weaponize the National Park Service.