Public Lands

With the exception of a number of scattered fragments of public land in other states, BLM-administered lands are located primarily in the Far West and Alaska.

BLM is responsible for the balanced management of the public lands and resources and their various values so that they are considered in a combination that will best serve the needs of the American people. Management is based on the principles of multiple use and sustained yield—a combination of uses that takes into account the long-term needs of future generations for renewable and nonrenewable resources. These resources include recreation, range, timber, minerals, watershed, fish and wildlife, wilderness, and natural scenic and scientific values.

Under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act of 1926, local units of government or nonprofit organizations may buy or lease public land for recreational use or for other public purposes. BLM also sells parcels of public land that are surplus to public needs. All public land is sold at fair market value, as determined by public auction.

BLM administers the leasing of public land to state and local government agencies and to certain nonprofit organizations. It manages grazing lands to produce maximum forage. The BLM manages, develops, and protects commercial forest land, and supervises the sale of timber from this land. The bureau also administers the public mineral resources of the U.S., including those on the continental shelf.

The public land supports a variety of fish and wildlife, and although the BLM develops habitat to support these populations, the management of wildlife is the responsibility of individual states. The agency has developed the recreational potential of the public lands because of their increasing use by the public.

See also Conservation; Forest.