Public Land
Public land is owned by federal, state, or local governments. Federally, that is 615,203,294 acres, 27.1% of the United States (2024). Most of it is managed by the BLM (244.4 million acres), Forest Service (193.1 million), Fish and Wildlife Service (89.3 million), and National Park Service (80.1 million).
Public Lands DB tracks 4909 public land units across 50 states: 3017 state parks, 401 National Park Service units, 137 national forests, 55 BLM units, 824 wilderness areas, and 475 national wildlife refuges.
Agency rules live on separate sites. Public Lands DB puts them in one place for every unit: who manages it, what you can do there, and current closures and fire restrictions, re-checked every six hours and cited to the agency.
Browse by state
Who manages public land in the U.S.
| Agency | Acres | Share of federal land |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau of Land Management | 244,387,084 | 39.7% |
| U.S. Forest Service | 193,145,862 | 31.4% |
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 89,280,814 | 14.5% |
| National Park Service | 80,098,836 | 13% |
| Department of Defense | 8,563,150 | 1.4% |
| All federal land | 615,203,294 | 27.1% of the U.S. |
Public land by state
Federal land in every state, highest share first. States with a full guide on this site are linked.
Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), 2024 data, checked 2026-09-25. Federal land only; state and local public land is not included.
Common questions
- In everyday use, public land is land owned by a government rather than a private owner: "a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land." In federal law (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)) "public lands" is narrower: "any land and interest in land owned by the United States within the several States and administered by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management."
- Not indefinitely. Under federal rules (43 CFR 8365.1-2), no one on BLM land may "camp longer than the period of time permitted by the authorized officer", so each area sets its own limit. In Nevada, for example, dispersed camping is generally allowed on BLM land for up to 14 days, after which you must move at least 25 miles.
- The federal government owns 615,203,294 acres, 27.1% of the country (2024 data). State and local public land is on top of that.
- Not always. In federal law (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)) "public lands" means land the Bureau of Land Management administers, but in everyday use it also covers national forests, national parks, wildlife refuges, and state land. The BLM manages 244,387,084 of the federal government's 615,203,294 acres (39.7%).
- By share, Nevada: 79.8% of it is federal land. By total acres, Alaska, with 222,373,941 federal acres.
- By federal share: Iowa (0.3%), Connecticut (0.3%), Kansas (0.5%). Every state is in the table above; state and local public land is extra.
See the national state parks index.
- congress.gov (accessed 2026-09-25)
- law.cornell.edu (accessed 2026-09-25)
- govinfo.gov (accessed 2026-09-25)
- en.wikipedia.org (accessed 2026-09-25)
The sentences on this page are generated by software from the sourced records above, not written by hand. How this content is made.