BLM land squares
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Yep, and just like in the game of Chess, we are the pawns, and the kings and queens have the power to make us disappear.
highdesertranger
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it depends who owns/manages the land. it could be any number of other federal agencies, like Forest Service, Bureau of Reclamation. it could be Military, it could be State or any of there many agencies, it could be private property, it could be a Railroad the list goes on and on. on some of these it is perfectly fine to camp others it's not and still others you can camp but need a permit. it's always best to know where you are and what's allowed. a great resource for you manages/owns what is My Land Matters,
http://mylandmatters.org/
I use them all the time. I have a paid subscription but all the land use info is free. I pay for their mining claim info.
highdesertranger
http://mylandmatters.org/
I use them all the time. I have a paid subscription but all the land use info is free. I pay for their mining claim info.
highdesertranger
I noticed many small areas around Tucson Arizona that appeared on the map but were land locked or even built on and enquired an the local BLM office how someone could chain and lock public land or apparently use it without permission of their office. They told me their enforcement personnel were always understaffed and it might be years before small parcels were even looked at. They told me I could volunteer to do surveys for them but then their legal staff was in the same boat and probably wouldn’t worry with parcels that were only a few acres. Probably why after several generations families begin to consider it “their” land.
It is weird.
I found this checkerboard pattern in and around Crescent Valley, NV. I imagine that it might have something to do with controlling access and future land uses. Enough money and some influential lawyers might make a checkerboard into one parcel. The private areas were usually unimproved as were the BLM parcels. No access road, etc.
For much of the private land in that area, the original title holder is a railroad trust.
The area also is the site of the longest running US gold mine, Barrick Cortez, operating since the 1860s. Makes for cheap property taxes ($14/year for 5 acres with well and septic) and an excellently maintained highway to I-80. Those ore trucks need to flow freely, day in, day out.
I found this checkerboard pattern in and around Crescent Valley, NV. I imagine that it might have something to do with controlling access and future land uses. Enough money and some influential lawyers might make a checkerboard into one parcel. The private areas were usually unimproved as were the BLM parcels. No access road, etc.
For much of the private land in that area, the original title holder is a railroad trust.
The area also is the site of the longest running US gold mine, Barrick Cortez, operating since the 1860s. Makes for cheap property taxes ($14/year for 5 acres with well and septic) and an excellently maintained highway to I-80. Those ore trucks need to flow freely, day in, day out.
Spaceman Spiff
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A lot of the checkerboarding comes from 'railroad land grants' where in exchange for laying track the railroads were granted every other section along the route. The railroads got the odd numbered sections and the federal government kept the even. The railroads eventually disposed of their sections and the BLM holds the government land.
I could be wrong, but I believe the "checkerboard" pattern reflects the survey system for public lands which was created in the Land Ordinance of 1785. There was no taxation in America yet, so the country was going bankrupt, and the Continental Congress came up with the survey system as a way of apportioning land so it could be sold, and. also given to revolutionary war soldiers as basically payment for their service. If I remember correctly the squares were called townships and they each contained a bunch of numbered one mile squares, with the numbering related to what the intended use was. One square of each township was designated for a school. I'm pretty sure this system is still in use even though the land is used differently now.
Malamute
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Much of the west had checkerboard lands given to the railroads as incentive to build them, It wasnt all by rail right-of-ways, much of it was scattered, but it gave them title, capital on paper, and probably some leverage for financing. Some hadnt been sold off until fairly recently. In the late 90s I bought a 1/4 section from the first owner since the railroad, I think he only owned it a year before I bought the 1/4.
Some other gov lands were checkerboarded for schools, as was mentioned, some for state, BLM, and other agencies. Much of it is pretty inaccessible for most uses and ends up being grazing leases. I know of one full section of former railroad land that was sold, it was so hilly, as in sidehill, and very poor access and very poor building potential. It sounds cool at first, but the obstacles to actually using it were pretty substantial.
The first whites that came to most places in the west homesteaded or otherwise claimed land, whatever was left unused ended up gov lands. In much of the west, the majority of the land is still gov lands. Its hard to grasp if from the east or more settled places, but there is still vast areas with few people and not much use, much of it is usable by the public with few restrictions, and part of the draw of the western country. When I first built my cabin on the 1/4 section, (I actually split it up and only kept 40 ac), I could see for miles along the mts, and could only see one light at night from a ranch miles away. It was absolutely awesome.
The silence and darkness intimidate some, to many, its part of the reason to love it. When i walk outside my current place, theres some humans around, but its generally very quiet. i can hear the sound of tires on pavement 2 or 3 miles away. Coyotes are common, ive heard wolves a couple times. You can sometimes hear people talking in conversational tones when they are outside from a 1/2 mile or more away when conditions are just right.
Some other gov lands were checkerboarded for schools, as was mentioned, some for state, BLM, and other agencies. Much of it is pretty inaccessible for most uses and ends up being grazing leases. I know of one full section of former railroad land that was sold, it was so hilly, as in sidehill, and very poor access and very poor building potential. It sounds cool at first, but the obstacles to actually using it were pretty substantial.
The first whites that came to most places in the west homesteaded or otherwise claimed land, whatever was left unused ended up gov lands. In much of the west, the majority of the land is still gov lands. Its hard to grasp if from the east or more settled places, but there is still vast areas with few people and not much use, much of it is usable by the public with few restrictions, and part of the draw of the western country. When I first built my cabin on the 1/4 section, (I actually split it up and only kept 40 ac), I could see for miles along the mts, and could only see one light at night from a ranch miles away. It was absolutely awesome.
The silence and darkness intimidate some, to many, its part of the reason to love it. When i walk outside my current place, theres some humans around, but its generally very quiet. i can hear the sound of tires on pavement 2 or 3 miles away. Coyotes are common, ive heard wolves a couple times. You can sometimes hear people talking in conversational tones when they are outside from a 1/2 mile or more away when conditions are just right.
US Forest Service also ended up with some of the checker-boarded lands. Both BLM and the FS have the (very) long-range goal of "blocking up" their holdings by trading/selling with other landowners. This can be a bureaucratically fraught process, because they have to show that the public will be better-off after the transaction.
The lands that the railroad companies received were intended to be rented/sold to finance actual railroad building. There was a lot of the 19th century equivalent of vaporware involved. Much money was made, which is why there were RR barons. Some of the RRs sold their granted land to speculators, who promised prospective settlers that all you had to do was plow and plenty of rain would fall in areas where it had always been scarce. Sometimes the RRs themselves did the scamming.
Years ago, when I was doing rare plant surveys on both USFS and BLM lands, I would be crossing private lands in order to get to the isolated public lands, and this usually meant calling ahead to inquire about getting through gates. I never had any problems getting access, but there would often be a worried voice asking me whether I knew I could be locked in overnight. Oh hell yes, I loved it that way. But in the 70s, young single women doing field work alone were not nearly as common as they are today.
BTW, if you pay attention, you will notice there are some townships which are very oddly shaped. The surveyors worked alone for weeks/months on end, sometimes on foot. Sometimes they drank a lot. Sometimes they looked at the next wild bit of land they were supposed to trek across, and decided they'd rather extrapolate from the other side.
The lands that the railroad companies received were intended to be rented/sold to finance actual railroad building. There was a lot of the 19th century equivalent of vaporware involved. Much money was made, which is why there were RR barons. Some of the RRs sold their granted land to speculators, who promised prospective settlers that all you had to do was plow and plenty of rain would fall in areas where it had always been scarce. Sometimes the RRs themselves did the scamming.
Years ago, when I was doing rare plant surveys on both USFS and BLM lands, I would be crossing private lands in order to get to the isolated public lands, and this usually meant calling ahead to inquire about getting through gates. I never had any problems getting access, but there would often be a worried voice asking me whether I knew I could be locked in overnight. Oh hell yes, I loved it that way. But in the 70s, young single women doing field work alone were not nearly as common as they are today.
BTW, if you pay attention, you will notice there are some townships which are very oddly shaped. The surveyors worked alone for weeks/months on end, sometimes on foot. Sometimes they drank a lot. Sometimes they looked at the next wild bit of land they were supposed to trek across, and decided they'd rather extrapolate from the other side.
DLTooley
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Curiously, the Navajo Reservation has the same pattern in parts of New Mexico.
I don’t know the reason, but it is where the tribe formed, just after the Pueblo revolt of 1680 - refugees from the Spanish who reestablished authority in 1692.
It’s just S of Navajo Lake, SE of Farmington. There are a few sites developed by the BLM. I like the area in early spring.
I don’t know the reason, but it is where the tribe formed, just after the Pueblo revolt of 1680 - refugees from the Spanish who reestablished authority in 1692.
It’s just S of Navajo Lake, SE of Farmington. There are a few sites developed by the BLM. I like the area in early spring.
What most people don’t know is the US government owns most of the land in the US. If you grow up in the Southwest driving endless miles on family vacations through empty land you wonder who owns it. The gov issues leases to ranchers for grazing and mining companies, military uses etc so some of the ostensibly empty land is actually being paid for and used. That might explain the blocked off areas. My Gem and Mineral clubs used to get special permission to go to areas not permitted to the public. But yeah, just because it looks empty doesn’t mean it’s available.
Malamute
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^^^ True, though for the most part grazing leases arent exclusive use permits, nor are timber harvest. Many uses have to fit the "multiple use" theory that much of the National Forests used for ages. So long as multiple uses dont impede other uses, they are OK generally. Other than military uses, most public lands are open for public use, though at times there can be restrictions due to extreme fire danger and such, or road closures to reduce roadbed damage in wet periods and to protect some wildlife breeding or young rearing grounds or other seasonal sensitive needs.
The general thing with grazing leases is leave the gates as you find them, either open or closed, and dont harrass livestock or camp close by water holes that keeps livestock and wildlife away from water.
The general thing with grazing leases is leave the gates as you find them, either open or closed, and dont harrass livestock or camp close by water holes that keeps livestock and wildlife away from water.
@Malamute True story: I just remembered being 20 years old in college when I spent a year living in Mexico (Michoacán) and hiking in a sort of national forest that was supposedly government land with a few other students mostly American. A group of armed men stopped us and took us in a truck. I thought we were either being kidnapped or killed. They took us to some guy who questioned us if we were CIA or ATF or government spies. I guess looking back it was obvious how dumb and naive we were but I think our terror proved we weren’t professionals. I was the only one who spoke fluent Spanish. Turned out they were narcos growing cannabis. By the grace of God they let us go. So when on empty land go very very carefully. LOL
