3. Public Lands in the US
35% of land belongs to federal
government
Large percentage in Alaska
60% of this land is in the western US
4. Multiple-Use Lands
1. National Forest System
156 Forests
20 Grasslands
Logging, mining, livestock grazing, farming,
oil and gas extraction, recreation, sport
hunting and fishing and commercial fishing,
conservation of watershed, soil, wildlife
Managed by the US Forest Service
Principle of sustainable yield
Principle of multiple use
5. More multi-use lands
2. National Resource Lands
Managed by the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM)
Provides secure domestic supply of energy
and strategic minerals
Preserves rangelands for livestock grazing
under a permit system
8. Moderately Restricted-
Use Lands
National Wildlife Refuges
508 refuges, containing 95 million acres
Managed by the US Fish and Wildlife
Service (Department of the Interior)
Most protect habitats for waterfowl and big
game for hunters
Other uses such as sport hunting, trapping,
sport and commercial fishing, oil and gas
development, mining, logging, grazing, and
farming permitted (if deemed compatible)
13. Restricted-Use Lands
1. National Park System
Managed by the National Park Service
Includes parks, recreational areas,
monuments, memorials, battlefields, historic
sites, parkways, trails, rivers, seashores,
and lakeshores.
Parks allow camping, hiking, fishing, and
boating
Recreational areas also allow hunting,
mining, and oil and gas drilling
18. Restricted-Use Lands
2. National Wilderness Preservation System
Roadless areas
Within National Parks, National Wildlife
Refuges, and National Forests
Managed by the National Park Service, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S.
Forest Service
Goal is to leave these areas “unimpaired” for
future use and enjoyment as wilderness”
Allows hiking, sport fishing, camping, non-
motorized boating, some hunting and
horseback riding
19. Other preserves
Adirondack Park
Preserve
Private, non-profit
organizations
The Nature
Conservancy
24. Wild and Scenic Rivers
• National System protects 12,598 miles of 203
rivers in 38 states and Puerto Rico (2011)
This is one-quarter of 1% of the nation's rivers
By comparison, more than 75,000 large dams
across the country have modified at least
600,000 miles, or about 17%, of American
rivers.
25. Rivers are classified as
wild, scenic, or
recreational.
Wild river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free
of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with
watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters
unpolluted. These represent vestiges of primitive America.
Scenic river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that are
free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely
primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in
places by roads.
Recreational river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that
are readily accessible by road or railroad, that may have some
development along their shorelines, and that may have undergone
some impoundment or diversion in the past.
26. Four Federal Agencies
Bureau of Land Management
National Park Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Forest Service
