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FEDERAL LANDS FEDERAL LANDS The Federal lands o f the United States of America date back to the time of the Union’s for mation. Then, and soon thereafter, seven o f the original States ceded to the Central Government some 233.4 million acres of land lying westward to the Mississippi River. This was the foundation of the “public domain.”1 Thereafter, through purchase and treaty, the United States acquired additional public domain, the last acquisition being the pur chase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. Altogether, nearly 2 billion acres of land in 32 States have been part of the public domain at one time or another. The Federal Government originally had no intention of being a permanent landlord of the pub lic domain. The Congress passed thousands of laws providing for the disposal of public lands. At first, these lands were sold for revenue. Eventually, how ever, as the pioneers swept westward, the revenueraising policy was replaced by one stressing settle ment and development o f the land. It was the clear intention of the Government to create new States from the territories as soon as the areas were settled. A total of 29 States was eventually carved from the public domain. The State of Texas is one large exception; it was never a part of the public domain, but lands acquired from the Republic of Texas have been included in that category. The Homestead Act o f 1862 was the first of a series of settlement-and-development laws enacted over a period of some 60 years—the desert land law, mining laws, and the various homestead laws—all o f which were designed to meet a particular need of the period. Substantial land, amounting to 287 million acres, was removed from Federal ownership by the Homestead Laws alone. Up to the present title to approximately 1.1 billion acres has been transferred under Federal legal authority (referred to as the land laws) to individual citizens, businesses, and non-Federal and governmental organizations. Meanwhile, many millions o f acres were transferred to private ownership through military, railroad, and other land grants, including various grants to the States. Approximately 328 million acres were granted to States to help support public schools, develop transportation systems, and aid general economic development. At about the time most o f the public domain suitable for fanning had been disposed of under the settlement laws, there were noticeable indications of the depletion of important natural resources. A policy of conservation was gradually developed by the Nation, chiefly with respect to park areas and forage and timber resources. One of the earliest manifestations of this policy was the reservation for public management of certain areas of public domain valuable for various resources. The first major reservation, Yellowstone Park, was estab lished in 1872. The National Forest System was started in 1891 (initially under the Department of the Interior, later transferred to the Department of Agriculture). Both national parks and national forests received great impetus in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Other resource-management activities on public lands which received attention during this period included water and power development, establishment o f wildlife refuges, organization of grazing lands, and increased emphasis on mineral development. When early settlers pushed westward across prairies, deserts, and mountains, they found one common characteristic—dryness. Because of scant or irregular rainfall throughout most of the West, potentially fertile land required additional water. Dams were needed to regulate flow and to store water during times of high runoff so that it could be used in periods of drought. To help meet this need, the National Reclamation Act was passed in 1902. The construction of dams, reservoirs, and canal systems has made millions of acres agricul turally productive and secondarily has provided hydroelectric power and recreational facilities. Over 1.1 billion acres have passed from Fed eral ownership and that leaves approximately 701 million acres in the public domain. Of these 701 million acres still in the public domain, 349 million are in the State of Alaska. An additional 55 million acres was acquired2 for various purposes. Federally owned lands today amount to approximately 756 million acres—about one-third of the Nation’s total land area. Much of it is permanently reserved for national forests, wildlife refuges, national parks, military reservations, national monuments, and many other uses. Federal holdings are located in all the States and vary from 97.0 percent o f the area of Alaska to 0.3 percent o f Connecticut. More than one-half o f the Federal acreage constitutes the “vacant and unappropriated” public domain lands which have never left Federal ownership and have not been dedicated to a specific use pursuant to legislative authorization. The Taylor Grazing Act of June 28, 1934, with amendments, is the basic legislative authority gov erning the management and protection of the vacant public lands of the United States. Because the act confers broad powers upon the Department of the Interior for multiple-use3 management of natural resources, it is one of the major conservation laws of the Nation. Without departing from the original primary objectives, the Congress has from time to time amended the act to keep it abreast with chang ing demands. The Bureau of Land Management has respon sibilities for 470 million acres, or 62 percent, of the federally owned lands. Over half, or 295 million acres, of this area is in Alaska. Before Alaska be came a State in 1959, more than 99 percent of its 568,400 square miles was owned by the Federal Government. All homesteading was on Federal lands. Under provisions o f the Statehood Act, Alaska was given the right to select for State use or disposition approximately 104 million acres of public land. The Congress gave the new State 25 years in which to select this acreage. By the fourth quarter of 1968, Alaska had selected over 17% mil lion acres and had over 5 million of this acreage patented.4 Other areas for which Bureau of Land Management is responsible are mainly located in the 11 westernmost conterminous States. Additional landholding agencies of the Department of the In terior are the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wild life, National Park Service, and Bureau of Recla mation. Two other large landholding agencies of the Federal Government are the Department of Agri culture, with over 187 million acres, and the Depart ment of Defense, with nearly 31 million acres. The Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture is responsible for managing, developing, and protecting nearly 187 million acres of land and its resources in the National Forest System. This represents nearly 25 percent of the Federal land ownership in the 50 United States including 154 national forests in 40 States and Puerto Rico that contain 183.2 million acres, 3.8 million acres of national grasslands, and 154,000 acres of land-utilization projects. Under mul tiple use and sustained yield, these lands are admin istered for their five basic resources: outdoor recreation, range, timber, water, and wildlife. Acreage controlled by the military departments in the 50 States and District of Columbia repre sents 1.4 percent of the total land area of the United States. Of the 30.7 million acres administered by the Department of Defense, the Army has about 37 per cent, the Corps of Engineers 23 percent, the Air Force 28 percent, and the Navy 12 percent. Development and management of public land for outdoor recreation is a responsibility shared to some extent by all the major landholding agencies. Emphasis on outdoor recreation in this decade caused the creation of the Bureau of Outdoor Rec reation in the Department of the Interior. This Bureau is not a landholding agency but a focal point for information and leadership in the nationwide effort to meet the demands for outdoor recreation. Scores of Federal reclamation projects on the public lands promote water- and soil-conservation practices and development of power resources, and provide excellent recreation areas. Often more than one agency will be involved in the management of these areas. Through cooperative agreements many purposes are adequately served. These include preservation, protection, and enhancement of open space values, land and water resources, natural phe nomena, archaeological and historic values, and recreation facilities. In addition to the federally owned acreage, the Federal Government holds in trust more than 50 million acres of Indian tribal and allotment lands and has vested responsibility in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare administers about 426 acres of trust land in 59 installations in 15 States, and the Smithsonian Institution administers 270 trust acres in the District o f Columbia. •Public dom ain. Original public d om ain lands which have never left F ederal ownership; also, lands in Federal ow nership which were obtained by the governm ent in exchange for public lands o r for tim ber on public lands. 2A cquired lands. Lands in Federal ow nership obtained through purchase, condem nation, o r gift, o r by exchange for purchased, condem ned, or donated lands, or fo r tim ber on such lands. 3M u ltip le -u s e . B a la n c e d - re s o u r c e m a n a g e m e n t. M ultiple use is a program m ing and planning concept; lands first m ust be classified for their highest and best use, then th at use m ust be interw oven into the entire landm anagem ent system. Thus, one m ultiple-use area may then provide grazing for livestock and wildlife, furnish w ater shed protection, p roduce oil and gas, and provide recreation facilities. T he presence o f forested land in the m ultipleuse areas adds m ore dim ensions to lan d uses. 4P atented lands. Lands for which a d ocum ent convey ing legal title is issued. FEDERAL LANDS NATIONAL ATLAS TOTAL FEDERAL AND TRUST LANDS ACRES LANDS FEDERALLY OWNED OR HELD IN TRUST: 1966 274 ALASKA TOTAL FEDERAL LANDS ACRES Principal Islands of HAWAII PREDOMINANT USES OF FEDERAL LANDS: 1966 STANDARD TIME ZONES 275 UNITED STATES TIME ZONES United States Time Zone boundaries were once defined by order o f the Interstate Commerce Commission under authority o f the Standard Time Act, enacted March 19, 1918. On April 13, 1966, Congress adopted the Uniform Time Act o f 1966 to be administered by the Interstate Commerce Commission. This act establishes eight standard time zones for the United States and Possessions and provides for the use o f daylight saving time. In October o f 1966, the Department o f Transportation was estab lished by the adoption o f the Department o f Transportation Act. By virtue o f section 6 (e) (5) o f this act, the responsibility for the administration o f the Uniform Time Act was transferred to the Department o f Transportation. Current boundaries are defined in detail in Code o f Federal Regulation, Title 49, Part 239. THE STANDARD TIME SYSTEM The standard time system is based on the theoretical divi sion o f the surface o f the earth into 24 time zones, covering 15° o f lon gitu d e. T he in itia l zone is the o ne w hich has the G reenw ich m eridian as its central m eridian, w ith m eridians 7V£°E. and 7&°W. as its eastern and western limits. It is called the zero zone because the difference between the standard time o f this zone and Greenwich m ean time is zero. Each o f the zones in turn is designated by a number representing the num ber o f hours by which the standard time o f the zone differs from Greenwich m ean time. Zones in east longitude are numbered in sequence from 1 to 12 and labeled minus; those in west longitude are numbered 1 to 12 and lab eled p lu s. In each zone, the zone num ber is applied to the standard tim e in accordance with its sign to obtain G reenwich m ean time. The 12th zone is divided by the 180th meridian. The h alf in east longitude is numbered minus 12; the h alf in west longitude, plus 12. Letters, as shown at the top o f the world map, are also used as suffixes to date-time groups, primarily in radio commu nications. The th eoretical system described above is ap p lied , in a strict sense, only in oceanic regions. On land or on groups o f islands, the system is ap p lied w ith certain lo ca l deviations, made necessary by frontiers, or the convenience o f an entire INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE island group to maintain the same zone time. The time used in each country, whether it is the time o f the corresponding zone or modified, is fixed by law and is known as legal or standard time. Certain countries, for economic reasons, deviate from this theoretical system and m odify their legal time for part o f the year, especially in summer, by advancing it an hour or another fraction o f time. Where such deviations are maintained on a year-round basis, the time is considered to be standard time, as in U.S.S.R. The 180th meridian represents, theoretically, the date line. When the 180th meridian is crossed from west longitude to east lo n g itu d e, the date m ust be se t ah ea d one day; w hen it is crossed from east longitude to west longitude, the date is set back one day. Because o f frontiers, and to ensure that all islands o f a group are to the east or west o f the date line, local modifica tions to the line are necessary; consequently, the International Date Line does not coincide with the theoretical line o f the 180th meridian. FEDERAL COURTS NATIONAL ATLAS The District of Columbia includes one circuit(9 judges) and one district (15 judges) ARIZONA Circuit boundary , Principal Islands of HAWAII District boundary States that have additional (at large) district judgeships are: Alabama 1 Missouri 2 Arkansas 2 Oklahoma 2 Florida 1 South Carolina 2 Iowa 1 Washington 1 Kentucky 1 West Virginia 1 JU D IC IA L CIRCU ITS A N D DISTRICTS Com piled from United States Code: 1958 ed., title 28, W ashing U.S. Govt. Print. O ff., 1959; 1964 ed., supp. Ill, title 28,1968 Albers Equal Area Projection 278 SCALE 1:17,000,000 ALASKA jFergus Falls Green Bayj/ Oshkosh, ,Pierre I ^Lansing OeUO'U, Arbor k South .St •Joseph •Springfie tSpringfield Qirardeau^ •Fayetteville ogee Batesville* •Fort Smith :e »Decatoi\ Gadsden. \ •Jasper. s1 lingham* •Tuscaloosa Opelik* Selma. # f *Jackson ( Albany 1 * Waycross • I Va'dost? *Tallahassee '---7------- .Live^ 0ak #Ga>"eV' #Ocala > t Orlando ' Tampa Principal Islands of HAWAII CO URTS O F APPEALS A N D DISTRICT COURTS Com piled from United States Code: 1958 ed., title 28, W ashington, U.S. G ovt. Print. O ff., 1959; supp. V, title 28,1964 Albers Equal Area Projection SCALE 1:17,000,000 ALASKA Place where court of appeals (circuit court) or district court may be held Place where district court may be FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE AREAS Regional boundary Interagency Board boundary SAN FR A NC ISCO (part) Principal Islands HAWAII SCAlf 1:17.000.000 National headquarters Regional office and Interagency Board “* 0 Interagency Board U N IT E D STATES C IV IL S ER V IC E C O M M IS S IO N 279 NATIONAL ATLAS NATIONAL ATLAS FEDERAL A DM INISTRATIVE AREAS FEDERAL ADM INISTRATIVE AREAS HICKAMAFBiivEljay<ARB0R 14 HAWAII 283 NATIONAL ATLAS COUNTIES NATIONAL ATLAS FEDERAL AD M INISTRATIVE AREAS FEDERAL AD M INISTRATIVE AREAS NATIONAL ATLAS FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE AREAS FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE AREAS NATIONAL ATLAS FEDERAL AD M INISTRATIVE AREAS FEDERAL ADM INISTRATIVE AREAS NATIONAL ATLAS 292 STANDARD METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS NATIONAL ATLAS 294 FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE AREAS
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