Federal government land grab: Florida ranks 15th in total land owned by the feds
According to a Congressional Budget Office report dated February 2012:
The federal government owns roughly 635-640 million acres, 28% of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States. Four agencies administer 609 million acres of this land: the Forest Service (USFS) in the Department of Agriculture, and the National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), all in the Department of the Interior (DOI). Most of these lands are in the West and Alaska. In addition, the Department of Defense administers 19 million acres in military bases, training ranges, and more. Numerous other agencies administer the remaining federal acreage.
In Florida the federal government owns 4,536,811 acres or 13.1% of the Sunshine State. This is an increase from 2004 when the federal government owned 8.2% of Florida. It is estimated that 33% of Florida is owned by the federal, state and local governments. The table below shows federal ownership by state. As the federal, state and local governments place land under their ownership, the higher the cost of land in that state.
Total Federal Land Acreage Total Acreage in the State % of State
Alabama 871,232 32,678,400 2.7%
Alaska 225,848,164 365,481,600 61.8%
Arizona 30,741,287 72,688,000 42.3%
Arkansas 3,161,978 33,599,360 9.4%
California 47,797,533 100,206,720 47.7%
Colorado 24,086,075 66,485,760 36.2%
Connecticut 8,557 3,135,360 0.3%
Delaware 28,574 1,265,920 2.3%
Dist. of Columbia 8,450 39,040 21.6%
Florida 4,536,811 34,721,280 13.1%
Georgia 1,956,720 37,295,360 5.2%
Hawaii 833,786 4,105,600 20.3%
Idaho 32,635,835 52,933,120 61.7%
Illinois 406,734 35,795,200 1.1%
Indiana 340,696 23,158,400 1.5%
Iowa 122,602 35,860,480 0.3%
Kansas 301,157 52,510,720 0.6%
Kentucky 1,083,104 25,512,320 4.2%
Louisiana 1,330,429 28,867,840 4.6%
Maine 209,735 19,847,680 1.1%
Maryland 195,986 6,319,360 3.1%
Massachusetts 81,692 5,034,880 1.6%
Michigan 3,637,965 36,492,160 10.0%
Minnesota 3,469,211 51,205,760 6.8%
Mississippi 1,523,574 30,222,720 5.0%
Missouri 1,675,400 44,248,320 3.8%
Montana 26,921,861 93,271,040 28.9%
Nebraska 549,346 49,031,680 1.1%
Nevada 56,961,778 70,264,320 81.1%
New Hampshire 777,807 5,768,960 13.5%
New Jersey 176,691 4,813,440 3.7%
New Mexico 27,001,583 77,766,400 34.7%
New York 211,422 30,680,960 0.7%
North Carolina 2,426,699 31,402,880 7.7%
North Dakota 1,735,755 44,452,480 3.9%
Ohio 298,500 26,222,080 1.1%
Oklahoma 703,336 44,087,680 1.6%
Oregon 32,665,430 61,598,720 53.0%
Pennsylvania 616,895 28,804,480 2.1%
Rhode Island 5,248 677,120 0.8%
South Carolina 898,637 19,374,080 4.6%
South Dakota 2,646,241 48,881,920 5.4%
Tennessee 1,273,974 26,727,680 4.8%
Texas 2,977,950 168,217,600 1.8%
Utah 35,033,603 52,696,960 66.5%
Vermont 453,871 5,936,640 7.6%
Virginia 2,358,071 25,496,320 9.2%
Washington 12,173,813 42,693,760 28.5%
West Virginia 1,130,951 15,410,560 7.3%
Wisconsin 1,865,374 35,011,200 5.3%
Wyoming 30,043,513 62,343,040 48.2%
Total 628,801,639 2,271,343,360 27.7%
Territories 161,967 not applicable
Sources: For federal lands, see sources listed in Table 2. Total acreage in state from U.S. General Services Administration.
Below is a map of the percentage of state lands owned by the federal government in 2004. Note that in most states the percent of federally owned land has increased. For example, in Florida in 1990 the federal government owned 4,344,976 acres and in 2010 owned 4,536,811 a 191,835 acre increase of 4.4%.
And you wonder why land costs so much in Florida. Look no further – it has been taken off the market by government!
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