Public Land Types – Raising Awareness – Conservation
When I think of Conservation, I have to be honest…I know so little. Conservation and more specifically public lands have been in the political view more in the past years. I think mainly because the land is one of the most valuable resources we have in the US. One thing I do know is that I am a public landowner and I want to raise awareness to the true public lands we own as Americans. When I think of Public lands there are three types.
- I have hunted on Public Land for deer and turkey in the two states that I have lived. They were there for the public to use under the guidelines of the local state DNR. These lands are owned by the state and the state decides what they use the land for. In this case, I am grateful they decided to share them with the public!
- In NC, I have hunted public lands that are slightly different from state-owned land. These lands are actually owned by someone or a group of people and these landowners offer them up for the use of the public. Many states have this type of public hunting land as well.
- In the US we have federal lands (public lands) that were put aside in order to protect some of the “wild places” we have in the US. These are the true public lands I want to explore further. These are the lands we can say we own as citizens of the US.
Definition of Federal Lands – Public Lands
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_lands
Federal lands are lands in the United States owned by the citizens of the United States. They are held in public trust and managed by the federal government. Pursuant to the Property Clause of the United States Constitution (Article Four, section 3, clause 2), the Congress has the power to retain, buy, sell, and regulate federal lands, such as by limiting cattle grazing on them. These powers have been recognized in a long line of U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
The federal government owns about 640 million acres of land in the United States, about 28% of the total land area of 2.27 billion acres. The majority of federal lands (610.1 million acres in 2015) are administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), or U.S. Forest Service (FS). BLM, FWS, and NPS are part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, while the Forest Service is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. An additional 11.4 million acres of land (about 2% of all federal land) is owned by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).The majority of federal lands are located in Alaska and the Western states.
Under Attack – Public Lands – Conservation
When I hear our public lands or conservation of federal lands are under attack I have to dive in more to truly understand. Personal Story: I have hunted local state public lands that were eventually sold off. The land was great and the experiences there were incredible. I can no longer enjoy this land and what it has to offer in the same way. That land will not be able to offer the same hunting experiences once it is developed. I share this because it leads me to think…If our federal lands are under attack, what is the impact on all the people who enjoy these lands AND the natural resources that live there? More to come on this…
WHY I DO THIS
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To understand why see my Focus and Vision Page! http://diybowhunting.com/vision-and-focus/
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