OCR Text |
Show THE SAN JUAN RECORD Thursday November Uncle Sams acres-- - 1982 - Page 16 some of them excess and Soon for sale The rest of federal lands is Uncle Sam always was and still is America's biggest land owner. It started 200 years ago when New York state turned ovr its lands beyond the Appalachian Mountains to the new central government. Then the tremendous territorial acquisitions of 19th the century from the Louisiana Purchase to the buying of Alaska rapidly expanded the nation. Over the years the federal government has given away or sold more than half of its lands, to newly forming primarily Federal agencies try to balance demands of the competing energy industries, ranchers, timber companies, vacationers and other groups. Although this divided up among assorted other agencies and departments, from the General Services Administration to NASA. The Department of Defense, for example, operates military bases and other facilities on about 3 percent. Some of its most desirable surplus parcels are up for has been a for long time, interaccepted differed. have pretations multiple-us- e including 17 Hawaii's Fort De Russy. Federal policy on most lands that have not been specially protected like the parks has been to put them to several uses at the same time without exhausting their resources. of the nation nearly 740 million still bears Uncle Sam's concept Under President Reagan, acres along Waikiki Beach that are part of sale, states, railroads and homesteaders. Yet the deed to a third acres 11, In- G. Watt of his the direction has reversed terior Secretary James predecessors by emphasizing resource development rather than preservation. Federal lands are believed to hold at least 20 percent of known oil, 30 percent of natural gas, and 40 percent of coal resources as well as 40 percent of commercial forests. MARKETS I want to open up as much land as I can, Watt has said. this year President the Property established Reagan set to Review Board policy guidelands Which federal lines about should be kept, sold or leased. Wheat Beans Earlier Selling off land to raise money old as the country. In fact much of the new nation was pieced together with land sold by someelse. The two largest body territories were acquired when France sold everything between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains in 1803 for $15 million and Russia sold Alaska in 1867 for $7 million. is as Some varieties of penguins spend months at sea, straying onshore only to breed, lay eggs, or molt. While diving for food-shr- imp, squid, or krill -- - they usually surface every two or three minutes to breathe, although the Emperor penguin has been clocked at 18 minutes underwater. This large penguin is also a deep diver; vertical plunge of 885 feet has been recorded. That is almost twice as deep as the record for a human diver with scuba gear. name. The Reagan administration's plan to sell off some of this land, beginning with nearly 5 million acres, could turn into the biggest transfer of public lands into private hands since frontier and homesteading days. Just what does the government still call its own? Most of the West almost all of Nevada and Alaska, more than half of Utah, Idaho, and Oregon, and big chunks of California and Arizona, Wyoming. The federal government owns at least some part of every state in the union. Federal lands are rich in coal, natural gas, oil shale, oil, ore and geothermal uranium Although the national parks and wildlife refuges are best known, most federal land is energy. , vast open rangeland where of cattle, sheep and horses graze, and thick forests which supply timber for millions of houses. millions WJ0t3i TfUHI The steward of about 70 percent territory is, approthe Department of the priately, Within Interior. Interior, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees the largest block of federal lands 43 percent or about 320 million acres of mainly open space that is valued primarily for grazing and mineral of all this rights. Almost all the acreage in the land sales scheduled to begin next year is excess BLM land, estimated to yield about $2.5 billion. The administration has proposed selling up to 5 percent of federal lands that are not specially protected, with BLM lands outside Alaska a prime Suburbanite source. Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service is caretaker for 12 percent of federal land, running 410 refuges to protect the habitats of waterfowl, endangered species, big game and other Polyester Four diagonal plies of triple toughened polyester cord tread lugs bite deep in snow or slush Multi-angle- d F32 All Winter Radial Interlocking tread cleats for traction without studs Unique tread rubber compound has bendability in the cold Two sturdy Flexten cord belts under the tread animals. Guardian of the world's first park system, Interior's National Park Service supervises the most famous 10 percent, 74 million acres of popular parks including Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Redwood, Glacier and ' Everglades. Through its Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior acts as trustee for another 7 percent, the federally managed Indian-owntotaling about 53 properties million acres of reservation land. ed The second largest block of lands, 25 percent, is controlled by the Department of Agriculture through its UJS. Forest Service. Half as big as Alaska, the 191 acres encompass 155 million national forests and 19 grasslands. about 60,000 of these Only included in the initial are acres lands sales, but the Agriculture to ask plans Department to sell an for authority Congress 18 15 to million million additional acres, estimated to be worth about $9 billion. Monticello Exxon 587-265- 5 $50 Off Market |