LIFESTYLES
E AST O REGONIAN
WEEKEND, FEBRUARY 13-14, 2016
Our federal lands
From conquest and treaty to conservation, the story of our public lands has been a contentious one.
The Birth of a Nation
1789 The U.S. Constitution gives
Congress the “... power to dispose
of and make all needful rules and
regulations respecting the territory
and other property belonging to the
United States.”
Revolutionary War
1775-83
1776 The Declaration of Indepen-
dence is signed.
1781-1802 The states cede “western
lands” to the central government to
create the public domain.
1783 Treaty of Paris is signed; U.S.
gains more than 270 million acres
east of the Mississippi River, not
including the original 13 colonies.
1785 The Land Ordinance is created
to manage land growth and the legal
sale and settlement of public lands.
1803 Louisiana
Purchase nearly
doubles the size
of the U.S.; Ohio
becomes the first
state created
from the public
Thomas Jefferson
domain.
1804-06 Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Ceded to Great Britain, 1818
British cession, 1818
1812 The General
Land Office is
created as a
branch of the
Treasury Dept.
to administer and
dispose of federal lands.
War of 1812
1819 Florida acquired through a
treaty with Spain, adds more than 46
million acres to the public domain.
1824 Office of Indian Affairs is
established within the Department
of War.
U.S.
territorial
gains
Oregon Territory:
Treaty with Great
Britain, 1846
This rendering by Charles M. Russell
depicts the Lewis and Clark Expedi-
tion (1804-06) meeting indigenous
peoples on the Lower Columbia River.
Westward Expansion
1840s The great westward migration
begins on the Oregon Trail.
1853 Gadsden Purchase with Mexico
adds 19 million acres in the
Southwest.
1845 The Republic of Texas is
annexed by the U.S.
Louisiana Purchase:
From France, 1803
Spanish cession, 1819
Territories of the
original 13 states:
Ceded by Great
Britain, 1783
Mexican cession, 1848
Gadsden Purchase:
From Mexico, 1853
Texas
Annexation,
1845
100 mi.
Spanish
cession,
1819
Hawaii
Annexation,
1898
200 mi.
Alaska Purchase:
From Russia, 1867
East Florida:
Ceded by
Spain, 1819
West Florida:
Ceded by
Spain, 1819
N
Virgin Islands: Purchased
from Denmark, 1917
100 mi.
300 miles
1893 McRae Bill authorizes 15 forest
reserves.
1897 The “Organic Act” authorizes
funds for administration of forest
reserves from the Department of the
Army to the General Land Office.
President Grover Cleveland creates
21.4 million acres of forested
reserveland. His successor,
President William McKinley, adds 7
million acres.
Spanish-American War
1898
1905 Congress transfers manage-
ment of forest reserves to the
Department of Agriculture,
1846 Oregon Compromise with Great
Britain gives U.S. claim to Pacific
Northwest lands south of the 49th
parallel.
1848 Mexico cedes California, other
western lands to the U.S.
1862 Homestead Act entitles settlers
to 160 acres of public land, provided
they reside on and cultivate the land
for 5 years.
1849 Department of the Interior is
established. The General Land Office
is transferred to the new department.
1867 Alaska Purchase from Russia
adds 365 million acres of public land
to the U.S.
1877 Desert Land Act allows the
dispersal of 640-acre tracts of arid
public land to homesteaders upon
proof they reclaim the land through
irrigation.
1889 Oklahoma Land Rush begins.
Puerto Rico: Ceded by Spain, 1898
The Conservation Movement
1891 The Forest Reserve Act or
“Creative Act” allows the president to
set aside forest reserves from the
public domain. President Benjamin
Harrison puts 13 million acres into
forested reserve. Largely regarded
as the beginning of the “conserva-
tion movement.”
American Civil War
1861-65
1846-48
Mexican-American War
1872 General
Mining Law
identifies mineral
lands as a distinct
category of land
subject to exploration
and occupation. Also,
Yellowstone becomes the first
national park in the U.S.
eventually leading
to the creation of
the U.S. Forest
Service.
1906 Antiquities Act permits federal
protection of prehistoric, historic and
scientifically significant sites and
create national monuments.
1907 An amendment to the Ag Bill
strips presidential power to create
reserve land through executive
order. President Theodore Roosevelt
and Gifford Pinchot create 16 million
acres of reserve land before the law
goes into effect.
1913-19 Several western state
legislatures pass resolutions calling
for ceding unreserved federal lands
to the states.
World War I
1917-18
1928 District land offices reduced to
29 from a high of 123 in 1890.
President Theodore Roosevelt (left) and naturalist
John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, on Glacier
Point in Yosemite National Park, 1906.
1929 The Great Depression begins;
President Herbert Hoover proposes
unallocated federal lands be ceded
to state control. A subsequent bill
fails to gain congressional support.
1934 Taylor Grazing Act places 80
million acres, mostly rangeland, into
grazing districts to help protect
against overuse.
World War II
1941-45
1940 U.S. Fish
and Wildlife
Service is
created within
the Department
of the Interior.
Encompassing 1.9 million acres, Grand Staircase-
Escalante National Monument was created by
President Bill Clinton and entrusted to BLM in 1996.
The Immutable Public Lands
1946 Sen.
Edward V.
Robertson
introduces legislation
calling for ceding
unreserved federal lands to state
control; U.S. Grazing Service and
General Land Office merge to form
the Bureau of Land Management.
Korean War
1950-53
1959 Alaska formally admitted to the
Union; Hawaii becomes 50th state.
underdeveloped federal lands to
preserve their natural condition.
1966 National Historic Preservation
Act expands protection of
prehistoric, historic properties.
1969 National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) requires all federal
agencies to assess their environmen-
tal impact.
1970 President Richard Nixon
creates the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), a non-cabinet
government agency to monitor and
enforce environmental laws.
1973 Endangered Species Act
provides federal protection to
threatened plants, animals and the
ecosystems they rely upon.
Vietnam War
1964-75 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
marks American escalation in
Vietnam conflict.
1964 Public Land Law Review
Commission is established.;
Wilderness Act extends protection to
1976 Federal Lands Policy and
Management Act requires public
lands remain in federal ownership
and maintained for multiple use;
repeals all pre-existing Homestead
Acts, phasing out homesteading.
1979 Nevada and four other western
states pass legislation calling for the
Sources: Congressional Research Service; U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management; USDA Forest Service; The Forest History Society; EO Media Group research
return of BLM-managed lands to the
states. The “Sagebrush Rebellion”
gains political allies in President
Ronald Reagan and Secretary of the
Interior James Watt.
1990 The
Northern Spotted
Owl is
designated a
threatened
species under
the Endangered
Species Act,
thereby affecting
timber sales on
federal land
within its range.
1996 Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument is designated as
BLM’s first national monument.
2008 BLM-managed lands are
officially designated as the National
System of Public Lands.
Today The federal government owns
and manages approximately 630
million acres, roughly 28 percent of
the 2.3 billion acres that make up the
U.S. land base.
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press