The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced the criteria for landowners to nominate private lands adjacent to public lands that can be sold or exchanged under the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act.
Under the law, landowners who have parcels adjacent to federal lands in 12 western states, including New Mexico, can nominate those lands for the government to purchase. There are a few criteria those lands must meet. They must border BLM, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service properties and must contain “exceptional resources.” The lands must connect to wilderness study areas or national forests, parks, trails, wildlife refuges or wild and scenic river systems or they must contain at least 640 contiguous acres that would allow the public to better access federal lands.
Currently, there are public lands that are surrounded by private lands and are essentially inaccessible to the public or have restricted public access. The land sales could allow the federal government to acquire lands that will provide access to the islands of public lands.
“BLM is using every tool at our disposal to connect and protect wildlife habitat and to provide the public with access to their public lands,” BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a press release. “We will continue our work with willing landowners, Tribes, and all of our partners to ensure our collective success.”
The money for purchasing the land comes from sales of public lands managed by the BLM that have been identified for “disposal,” or sale.
