It Depends on What You Count

I doubted the land ownership numbers that Uncle Ken provided because they were inconsistent with what I had read in the past.  At first I thought the data was pretty old but, the more I thought about it, my information is older than that, dating back to my Libertarian days circa 1990s.  I did some checking, and Uncle Ken's numbers are consistent with the information I found.  It seems, however, that they are talking about public land, most of which is administered by the Department of the Interior.  I found no mention of land administered by the Department of Defense. Although some military bases are open to the public, one would not normally think of them as public land.  Then there's federal buildings like post offices, although the land they cover is probably insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Then I got to thinking about the interstate highway system and the old fashioned U.S. highways.  Some of the old U.S. highways were deeded to the states after the interstates were built, but some of them still remain in federal ownership.  One would not normally think of highways as land, but they do take up a lot of land, and that should count for something.  Somebody told me a long time ago (How's that for a reliable source?) that the average two lane highway in Illinois takes up 40 acres of land for every linear mile.  That's counting the whole right of way, not just the two traffic lanes.  County roads in Michigan occupy a 66 foot right of way, state and federal highways more than that, and interstates much more than that.  Technically, you still own to the center of the road in front of your property, and it reverts back to you if the county ever abandons the road, but you are denied private use of your half of the right of way as long as the road continues to be maintained.

Another thing I found that surprised me is that the numbers change every year because the feds periodically obtain new lands and divest themselves of some of their old lands.  Specifically mentioned were several national monuments that Obama added to the list, which Trump is now in the process of deeding over to the states.  There is concern in some circles that the states might sell some of this land to private owners, but that could be addressed.  A long time ago, the State of Michigan gave a small state park to the City of Cheboygan, and the city promptly sold it to private developers.  Laws have been passed since then that they can't do that anymore.  If the state gives land to another government body, they must use it for public purposes or it reverts to the state.