Interior’s power rests on federal ownership of nearly a third of the nation’s lands

Evidence

The Department of the Interior is quite differently situated as the federal agency primarily responsible for federal natural resources law policy. Interior derives its authority principally from the federal government’s ownership of almost 30 percent of the nation’s lands. These properties are managed primarily by Interior but also by several other federal agencies, such as the Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture. — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 783

Categorization

• SHARE: A fact that reorients how land/place and public lands discourse reads — nearly 30 percent of US land is federally owned.
• XREF: connects to: Property law’s boundary-invasion frame cannot address external pollution threats to federal lands — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 792; Nineteenth-century federal law gave away vast public lands to promote private resource exploitation — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 791; Widespread private land ownership shaped all American law — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 290

Broader Connections

• Widespread private land ownership shaped all American law #expands (0.72) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 290