US Public Lands Essay -- US territory, US Forest service, government

U.S. Public Lands are a vital part of our nation and what is stands for, but you rarely hear anything about of these lands or the creation of their units anywhere other than a bleak mention in a high school American history class where they briefly mention their conception or if you seek it out in college. The federal government owns just about 30% of all public lands in the United States, (Bureau of Land Management Lecture), which equates to almost 650 million acres, of land of all different types and terrains. The U.S. Public Lands system is divided into five major units, all owned by the federal government, all with different goals and all ran by different legislation but all still dealing with the same things: nature and the environment. When first learning about the existence of these five major units, I asked myself, why aren’t these all under the same branches, just as many other sectors of life in America. Or if anything why isn’t it up to the individual sta tes to decide how they want their land looked after? I quickly realized was that they weren’t all created as one because each different unit has it’s owns mission’s, legislations to abide by and it’s own practices and that by owning so much land federally, the United States is able to hold more control over the individual states. Although I don’t think that it will be effortless and uncomplicated, I do think that the land owned by the federal government should be devolved back to the individual states so they can customize their care for the environment that is specifically catered to their specific terrain’s needs. I believe the best alternative is for the United States to give back the federal land to the individual states, and then the individual states consol... ... are now barely breaking even, even with tourism. The only really profitable aspects are the oil, gas and mining companies, which reside on federal land but those are poorly managed and do more bad than good for the environment and all people living around them. At first it will be hard but it’s not impossible under the right leadership who truly only wants the betterment of the environment, I think with strict guidelines and rules this could be the most profitable solution for humankind and the environment. I believe that giving the land back to the states will be beneficial to help keep the costs down, centralize the efforts, and make â€Å"saving,† and â€Å"preserving,† the environment more efficient in the long run. Works Cited Edwards, Chris, and Randal O'Toole. "Reforming Federal Land Management." Downsizing the Federal Government. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.