public land

public land in U.S. history, land owned by the federal government but not reserved for any special purpose, e.g., for a park or a military reservation. Public land is also called land in the public domain. Except in Texas, which made retention of its public lands one of the conditions for joining the Union, there are no state public lands. Seven of the original states ceded their western lands to the federal government when they entered the Union. Additional public land was acquired with the Louisiana Purchase (1803), Florida (1819), Oregon (1846), the Mexican Cession (1848), the Gadsden Purchase (1853), and Alaska (1867). Almost as soon as public land was acquired the federal government began to dispose of it through grants to states, railroad companies, settlers (see Homestead Act , 1862), colleges (see land-grant colleges and universities ), and cash sales. It was charged that large companies frequently acquired extensive holdings by dishonest means, and many of the new owners obtained considerable revenue by selling the land. A reaction to this easy policy set in toward the end of the 19th cent., and steps were taken to ensure the conservation of natural resources by withdrawing public lands from sale. Thereafter the government leased such land for grazing, lumbering, mining, the harnessing of water power, and other purposes, while maintaining regulatory control. By the 1970s there was considerable controversy over the need to make the best use of the public land's valuable resources while still preserving the land for future use and expanded recreational activities. Most of the nation's remaining public land is in the western part of the country, about half of it in Alaska.

Bibliography: See E. L. Peffer, The Closing of the Public Domain (1951, repr. 1972); W. C. Calef, Private Grazing and Public Lands (1960); V. Carstensen, ed., The Public Lands (1962); P. Gates, History of Public Land Law Development (1968); M. J. Rohrbough, The Land Office Business (1968).

Public Lands Nearly all of the territory in the United States outside the original thirteen states once comprised public lands of the federal government, acquired from foreign powers or from states through cession, and from natives. Some public lands have been purchased by the federal government from private persons or states for governmental operations.

The federal government's authority over its lands is defined principally in the Constitution's enumerated powers of Congress and in the Property Clause (Art. IV, sec. 3, cl. 2), which provides, “The Congress shall have power to dispose of and to make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting Territory and other Property belonging to the United States.” The Supreme Court has read the Property Clause expansively, stating that the clause gives Congress both a general legislative power and the power of a proprietor over federal lands. In light of the comprehensive authority granted to Congress, the Court has usually deferred to Congress, and confined itself largely to interpreting congressional statutes and administrative regulations controlling or disposing of public lands.

The Supreme Court must reconcile federal and state jurisdiction over federal public lands located within state borders. Under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause (Art. VI, sec. 2), federal provisions override conflicting state laws, and states may not interfere with federal ownership of public lands. Hence, states may not tax federal lands. However, the states have a residual jurisdiction to enforce their criminal laws on federal public lands within their borders, except where a state has ceded its jurisdiction or consented to the federal government's acquisition of land in the state under the Enclave Clause (Art. I, sec. 8, cl. 17).

See also Land Grants; Territories and New States.

Bruce A. Campbell