"PUBLIC LANDS" 



CARL ZINNE 

 DIRECTOR, MASWCD 



It was my privilege and pleasure to attempt to take 

 the place of Art Chris tensen at the NACD Public Lands 

 Committee Meeting in Phoenix, January 16-17, 1969. I 

 met many wonderful, sincere people. One thing I learned, 

 when all else falls, make your point with noise, volume, 

 and persistence. 



Of the 2,392,069,000 acres of land in the United 

 States, except Alaska and Hawaii, 407,896,000 are fed- 

 eral and 80,348,000 are state land. The greatest per- 

 centage of the state and federal land Is in the western 

 part of the United States: Idaho with 70.802; Utah with 

 75.95X; Nevada with 87.14X; and Montana down the list 

 with 35.82Z. 



The two main government agencies responsible for 

 administering this land are the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, which the Forest Service is part of, and the 

 Department of Interior, under which are the Bureau of 

 Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs (Indian land 

 is not public land, but is "held in trust" for the 

 Indians) , and also Bureaus of Sport Fisheries and 

 Wildlife, Reclamation, Geological Survey, and National 

 Park Service. The Defense Department uses a lot of 

 public land. 



Here in Montana we have the State Land Commissioner, the Fish and Game Coomlsslon, and 

 jthe State Forester to administer our state land. 



The way these lands are scattered and the amount that there is. It's quite a job to 

 administer. A few of the uses are wood products from the forests, mining, livestock 

 grazing, and recreation. 



Due Co our rapidly expanding population and unwise planning, land is being covered by 

 urban sprawl, roads, airports at the rate of one million acres per year. Private land 

 is being shut off to recreation because farmers and ranchers haven't the time to ride 

 herd on these people. There is more demand today for public land for recreation, and 

 this conflicts with those that have been using the public land. Progress is slowly being 

 made, but the patience of many will be sorely tried before all conflicts are resolved. 



Ac Che NACD Public Lands Committee Meeting in Phoenix, it was the opinion of the 

 group that all users of public land should pay. A question was asked, should public 

 access across private land be a required provision of all public land leases or permits? 

 It was the opinion of the group that it should be negotiated. 



It would seem reasonable that the revenue from public land should start from a base, 

 equal to the amount of taxes paid by private landowners of like land. From this base 

 there are many ifs, ands, and etcs. 



The NACD holds that public lands are held in trust and must be devoted to the highest 

 possible use for the permanent good of all people, recognizing sustained yield and multiple 

 use of renewable natural resources as basic principles of public lands use and management 

 and recognizing further that water rights established under state laws must be taken into 

 full account in all planning concerned with conservation and development on public lands. 

 The MASWCD supports this policy. This is taken from the MASWCD statement presented to the 

 Public Land Law Review Commission at Billings, Montana, Julv 13, 1967. 



I had an idea, why not go south and raise cotton? According to the length of skirts 

 nowadays, there must be a terrific shortage of cotton. 



CARL ZINNE 



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