Published with permission from https://drdansfreedomforum.com/private-property-vs-government-ownership-and-control-of-land/
By Guest Contributor Howard Hutchinson
Email: aznmc@earthlink.net
States and Federal governments own millions of acres of land and millions of acres are controlled under conservation easements. Environmental organizations that include land trusts claim that this public ownership and control of lands has immense benefits to the bordering private lands.
These lands are often mismanaged and restrict access to the resources and recreation use. Rural residents suffer through months of smoke and fire evacuated communities that result in loss of life, businesses, and homes. Compensation for losses is rare.
- Nearly 40% of the United States is owned by federal, state, or local governments. This amounts to eight hundred and twenty-eight million acres.
- Another forty million acres are in private conservation easements with five million acres enrolled in USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation easements.
- The Land and Water Conservation Fund was created by Congress in 1965. It provides 900 million dollars per year for funds and matching grants to federal, state and local governments for the acquisition of land and water, and easements on land and water.
- The imposition of conservation easements permanently forecloses potential beneficial land uses for future generations.
- House Bill 7408 is being considered by Congress to provide 300 million dollars per year for fiscal years 2025 through 2029 to non-government organizations, state, tribal and local governments to purchase land and conservation easements.
Bottom Line: Conservation Easements are no longer private property.
Continue reading for an in depth discussion of conservation easements and the gross mismanagement of federal lands by the government bureaucracy. (references following article).
The History of Private Property
America was founded on the principles of protection of life, liberty and private property. To ensure these protections the Constitution requires the federal government dispose of acquired lands. For over a century the lands acquired through purchase and war were disposed of to newly formed states and directly to individual homesteaders.
Karl Marx’s 1848 manifesto summed up his political/economic theory with a single sentence: “Abolition of private property.” In addition he proposed abolition of much more than private property.
The popular concept of government ownership and control of land took hold in the United States and by the mid 1800s the federal government began reserving lands first through national monuments and parks then national forests.
Following the Great Depression the federal government began purchasing private lands abandoned in the economic downturn. In some southeastern states this resulted in counties that were once one hundred percent private converting to eighty percent plus federal lands.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was established in 1964 to expand the ability of governments to purchase land, conservation easements and water. The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) provides for a deposit of $900 million into the LWCF each fiscal year which is available the next fiscal year. In fiscal year 2025, the Department of the Interior proposes to allocate $681.9 million for permanent LWCF programs, including $313.0 million for Federal land acquisition, $360.8 million for grant programs and $8.0 million for a new LWCF Tribal Land Acquisition program.
House Bill 7408 is currently before Congress to provide 300 million dollars per year for fiscal years 2025 through 2029 to Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), state, tribal and local governments to purchase land and conservation easements. The Farm Bill also provides millions of dollars to acquire conservation easements.
The grant programs funnel dollars to States and Land trusts have proliferated using these funds to acquire property and conservation easements. These NGOs often purchase private property and later sell to a state or the federal government.
In 1976 the Congress eliminated public land[1] with the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) contrary to Article 4, Section 3, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution.[2] The federal government continues to perpetuate the fiction of public land while closing off human access to resources, hunting and recreation.
How Much Land Do Governments Need to Mismanage?
Federal Lands Management or Abuse
State, Local and Federal governments own eight hundred and twenty-eight million acres, and forty-five million acres are controlled under NGO and Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation easements.
The National Forests around the country are losing hundreds of thousands of acres per year to catastrophic fires, insect and disease. The catastrophic fires have cost many lives, and consumed thousands of homes and businesses.
Flooding following the fires has claimed additional lives and more homes and businesses. The floods scour out streams and riverbeds, kill off native fish and aquatic fauna, and severely degrade water quality.
At the same time annual timber volumes harvested have declined from 12 ½ billion board feet in fiscal year (FY) 88 to around 2 billion board feet in FY 21. Forest thinning that used to be part of the timber harvest cycle has all but been terminated. The sale of timber covered the cost of management activity and the Forest Service operated in the black well into the 1970’s.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has enacted new planning rules that allow for livestock grazing leases be converted to conservation leases. In addition, they have added increased mandates for creation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs). ACECs restrict human access and activities. The BLM is also proposing to convert hundreds of thousands of acres to solar collectors.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (F&WS) is now proposing to expand the Muleshoe Wildlife Refuge from 6,440 acres to 7,000,000.
The Conservation Easement Scam
Imagine one has a large ranch, farm or timber land. An NGO comes along and offers to purchase or have you donate the development rights. The NGO is eligible for government tax generated grants to purchase those conservation easements. If one choses to donate the land, there are up to 100% tax deductions available.
In some cases, the NGOs will market the conservation easement development rights to land developers or corporations to offset environmental impacts such as endangered species harm or climate changing emissions.
An example of the scam in Pennsylvania is a timber company purchased hundreds of acres of woodlands. They then harvested most of the timber and sold the development rights at an inflated valuation. The main problem with the inflated cost of the development rights is the land was not capable of being zoned for anything other than timber production.
Another scam example comes from Colorado where donated land values were inflated to gain a greater tax deduction. The land doners were then prosecuted by IRS and state tax departments for tax fraud.
Most conservation easements are in perpetuity. This cuts off any chance of future generations deciding what they consider the best use of that property. The easement becomes the dominate estate and renders the property a servient estate.
Conclusion
The massive amount of land in federal ownership is being mismanaged. The land management agencies do not have the personnel or expertise needed to take care of those lands. Rural residents must watch in disbelief as their and the federal lands go up in smoke and subsequent floods destroy what remains. Federal judges approve environmental suit settlements that delay or cancel projects hamstring even well-meaning federal agents.
Whether one is talking direct government purchase or the creation of a conservation easement the private land title transfers to the state or development is restricted. In either case the local government’s tax base is reduced. As local government services increase in cost the property tax on the remaining private lands must increase. As time goes on the remaining landowners are forced into selling leading to total government ownership of land.
We once challenged the King of England and his armies to gain the right to individual property ownership and rights. We are now faced with the loss of those property rights to ownership and control by the state. Will we wake up in time or face losing all our hard-won rights?
More Information:
Why are conservation easement lands no longer private property?
American Stewards of Liberty – Conservation Easement or Servitude
Conservation Easements – 13 Key Points for Landowners
[1] Public lands,’ or ‘public domain,’ are synonymous terms used to describe lands subject to sale or other disposal under general law.” Questions and Answers on the United States Public Land Laws and Procedure. By Joseph R. Rohrer, J.D. Milans & Sons, Washington, D.C. 1912
[2] The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular state.
About the Author
Howard Hutchinsonis aproperty rights activist and founder and executive director of the Coalition of Arizona/New Mexico Counties for Stable Economic Growth.
