Balancing Agriculture, Energy and Recreation on Federal Lands

The Homestead Act is where it all began. To encourage westward expansion in 1862, the federal government offered 160-acre plots of land to the American people for a modest filing fee and commitment to reside on and improve the acreage by cultivating crops or raising livestock. However, as homesteaders discovered, much of the land in the west is barren and rocky. It takes a lot of it to sustain a family, and the tools required for farming and ranching were expensive to acquire. That is why it’s not surprising that much of the land remained unclaimed by farmers and ranchers when the Homestead Act was discontinued in 1976 (except in Alaska, where it continued until 1986).

Everything left over remained the property of the government and became what we now know as federal or public lands. These lands are managed by federal agencies including the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. In western states especially, agencies face the challenge of balancing multiple uses on federal (public) lands.

You might ask, “How are these resources managed in states with substantial public lands?” That is a great question. Federal lands in the western U.S. are used for grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep, producing energy and minerals, recreation and so much more.

Ranchers across the west must first obtain grazing permits through federal agencies before their livestock can consume the plentiful grass, a nutritious food source. In Wyoming — where 48% of the land is federally owned — this extensive public land base is managed for multiple uses, including grazing, a pattern echoed across much of the western United States. Benefits of grazing on public lands include thriving rangelands, reducing vegetation that can fuel wildland fires, and reduced input costs for farmers and ranchers.

Federal lands also play a role in supporting energy production across the United States. New Mexico is the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas on federal lands with Wyoming as a close second. Nationally, these lands account for about a quarter of the oil, natural gas and coal production in the U.S.

People from all corners of the world are drawn to the spirit and lifestyle of the American west.

Whether the attraction is seeing an elk in Yellowstone National Park or hiking to see cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, western federal lands are known for the opportunities they offer to recreation enthusiasts. Outdoor recreation like hiking, fishing, hunting, rock climbing and mountain biking are all drivers for the states’ economies. On the high end, we can observe outdoor recreation accounting for 4.1% and 4.6% of gross domestic product in Wyoming and Montana, respectively. With this growing pastime, more people are traveling west to experience the great outdoors firsthand.

It is clear that federal lands, which are woven into the daily lives of millions of Americans, are a special characteristic of the western U.S. By wisely managing them, we preserve our natural resources, maximize revenue, bring new sources of income into local economies and produce a substantial amount of fuel and food for our nation and the world.

Lilly Stewart recently completed a communications and executive internship at the American Farm Bureau Federation. She is a student at the University of Wyoming.