Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-07-20
By WiIIiom E. Worne

OF lUlHO UQS JcHCSu ny INe
eliminate congestion on the S
By William E. Worne
As.istont Secretary. Department Of interior.
When the Interior Departments
General Land Office was merged
recently into a new Bureau of Land
Management. it was a belated recog-
milton that pioneering, at least
within the confines of the 48 States
is a thing of the past and that the
Governments land problems nc
longer chiefly concern mere dis
posal.
In the historic American sense,
pioneering has been the settlement
of either cheap or free Government
land. Today, while the Government
still has some land for sale and fol
settlement in the continental area,
land disposal has diminished nearly
to the vanishing point. This state
ment, of course, excerpts Ala5ka
where the days of extensive settle
ment are still ahead.
For many years the Government
rid itself prodigally of its enormous
land holdings because it had SO
much, because it wanted the interior
settled and because even good land
was no plentiful that it almost had
no value.
Public Domain Shrinks
This generosity was In keeping
with the early belief that the func-
ton Of the Federal Government in
respect to the lands it had acquired
from the States, foreign countries
and Indian tribes was that of a
trustee whose duty it was to transfer
the land as rapidly as possible to
private ownership.
Under that policy, the public do
main, which once embraced three
quarters of the area of the present
States, has been reduced by two
thirds and is now largely localized
within IL Western States. Except
ing Alaska, most of the public do
main is situated entirely in desert,
semidesert, upland and mountain
areas of the West. The great
Eastern forest region and the grassy
prairies, with insignificant excep-
tons, are no longer owned by the
Federal Government.
That is principal reason why
continental land disposals have
withered away; there is small
chance for a livelihood in the arid
lands which may still be procured
for agricultural purposes. Only
when reclamation projects bring
life-giving water to dry soils is the
land really wanted for farming.
With the good agricultural land
gone and the heaviest and most
accessible stands Of timber disposed
of, the bulk Of the remainder OF
the public domain is suitable only
for grazing or forestry, for min
eral extraction, for the propaga-
ton of wildlife or Is SO barren that
it has little value for mans use
at present.
Reservations Set Up
Included in these Withdrawals are
the lands which, while used largely
by individuals for various purposes,
are managed by the Federal Gov
eminent for the conservation, pro-
lection and development Of essential
natural resources. They embrace
the forests, the range, the minerals,
the wildlife sanctuaries, the reser-
voir sites and the scenic spectacles
In addition, various Withdrawals,
some purely temporary, have been
made for national defense and as
sites for Coast Guard stations, light
houses, quarantine stations and Fed
eral courthouses.
With the emphasis on disposal
gone, the Government chief land
problems now lie in the manage
ment OF the approximately As, 0O0,-
600 acres-slmost one-quart9 Of the
total land area Of the 48 States
which it owns or manages on the
continent. 1t has an additional
365, O00, 900 acres in Alaska, or over
SO per cent Of that Territory's land
area, to worry about as well.
Congress has made the Interior
Department responsible for the ad-
ministration of more than 282 ,00o,-
600 acres in the continental area
and some 344, 600, 900 acres in Alaska
(both of these less various war
time military withdrawals). Ma
tional forests are administered by
the Agriculture Departments For
est Service and permanent military
and naval reservations by the War
and Nevy Departments. The Civil
Authority and other
governmental agencies outside OF
the Interior Department administer
lesser areas.
Policy Requirements
In its land management, the In
terror Department has evolved def
mite policies which effectuate the
congressional mandates setting aside
the land. Briefly summarized. these
policies require that the land and
resources under the departments
jurisdiction be managed in accord
ance with the most practicable tech
niques for the particular resources
involved and for the purposes for
which Congress set aside the various
categories Of land.
These categories widely vary and
sometimes now together. They in
clude the vacant, unappropriated
and unreserved public lands. lands
held in trust for the Indians, lands