Chapter 2: The Historical and Constitutional Geography
of Natural Resources Law
I. Introduction
* For a series of maps depicting natural resource features in the United States,
see the Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental
Atlas. It includes maps depicting basic air, land, and water features.
II. Acquisition of the Public lands
* For a chart listing the total acreage of land and water acquired by the
United States and added to the public domain, you may want to reference the
following chart from BLM's 2001 Public Lands Statistics - "http://www.blm.gov/natacq/pls01/pls1-1_01.pdf
* Click here for
an interactive map of the formation of boundaries of the contiguous 48 states.
A. Acquisition of lands from the States with Western Land
Claims
B. Acquisition of Public lands from European Powers
* The text includes at page 82 one map of U.S. territorial acquisitions. Here
are two more maps (map
1 and map
2) using a slightly different format.
C. Acquisition of Public lands from Indian Tribes
* For a useful series of maps showing the change in Indian land ownership
from the 1400's to present, click here
III. Allocating the Nation's Land and Natural Resources
A. The Equal Footing Doctrine
B. The Public Trust Doctrine
Problem Exercise: Indian Treaty Rights in Washington's
Tidelands
C. Federal Disposition of the Nation's Land and Resources
1. The Jeffersonian Survey System
Rectangular Survey System : In all of the states except the original 13 colonies,
Texas, and Hawaii, land is subdivided largely in accordance with Land Ordinance
of 1785. Under this "rectangular survey system," a baseline, running
east and west, and a meridian, running north and south, is first established.
A map depicting the principle meridians for the United States can be found here
or here. The following
three diagrams depict the rectangular survey system and telescope down from
larger to smaller scale. Figure 1 depicts 16 townships laid out along a baseline
and meridian. The highlighted township in the upper, left corner of Figure 1
is identified as T2N, indicating that it is two townships north of the baseline,
and R2W, indicating two ranges west of the principal meridian.
Figure 1. Layout of Six Mile Square Townships
Figure 2 below (a different version of which is included in the text) depicts
one township, which is six miles per side and contains 36 one square mile sections.
Section 13, which is highlighted, is one of the 36 sections within the township.
Assume, for example, that Figure 2 depicts the T2N, R2W township highlighted
in Figure 1.
Figure 2. A Single Township
Figure 3 is a diagram of one section (totaling one square mile) within a single
township. Assume that Figure 3 depicts Section 13 which is highlighted in the
township diagram in Figure 2.
Figure 3. A One Mile Square Section Within a Township
Putting these three diagrams together allows one to understand most property
descriptions. Suppose, for example, that you wanted to provide a proper legal
description of the 40-acre square tract of land highlighted in Figure 3. It
would be described as: NW 1/4, NE 1/4, § 13, T. 2N, R. 2W, 3rd Principal
Meridian. In other words, the property is located in the northwest quadrant
of the northeast quadrant of Section 13 which is within the township located
two townships north of the baseline and two ranges west of the third principal
meridian. Because a single section is 640 acres (one square mile), a quarter
section is 160 acres (the typical homestead grant), and a quarter, quarter section,
as in the case of the hypothetical property description, is 40 acres.
2. Land Grants to States
On the theory that a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words you may want
to show your students the following two maps depicting the divided and checkerboarded
pattern of state and federal land ownership in the West. The first is a map
of land ownership in State of Washington. The second is a
link to the trust land maps prepared by the Utah School and Institutional
Trust Lands Administration. (Click on "Current Ownership Maps".)
Information on public land
statistics is prepared each year by the BLM.
3. Land Grants to Settlers
4. Land Grants to Railroads
Students may be interested in viewing timber clearcuts in a checkerboard pattern
or of viewing the checkerboard ownership of some of Weyerhaeuser's lands at
this site.
Another useful map of the railroad land grants can be found here.
D. Federal Retention of the Nation's Land and Resources
* Click here
for a map depicting current federal land ownership.
* Click here for a chart
which compares federal and state land ownership by state.
* For a map depicting the division of land uses within each state (e.g. developed
land, rangeland, cropland, etc.) click here.
1. Early Federal Retention and National Parks
* A map depicting all national parks can be found here.
* For a series of maps of almost all national parks and monuments, see the University
of Texas' Perry-Castaneda map collection at "http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/national_parks.html.
* National Park Service Website - "http://www.nps.gov
2. National Forests
* For a map depicting the location of our national forests, with links to
the forests within each state, click here.
3. National Wildlife Refuges and Executive Withdrawals
* History of the National Wildlife Refuge System - http://refuges.fws.gov/history/index.html
* Homepage of the National Wildlife Refuge System - http://refuges.fws.gov/
* Timeline of the National Wildlife Refuges - http://refuges.fws.gov/history/chron/chron_1800s_fs.html
4. The Decision to Retain the Rest of the Public Lands
* For a map of lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), click
here.
* BLM also has a nice collection of historical photographs at "http://www.photos.blm.gov/hist_index.html.
5. The Geographic Legacy of Federal Public Lands Policy
* For a map of the public lands indicating the relevant federal agency, click
here.
IV. Federal Power over Natural Resource Management
A. Federal Power Derived from Federal Land Ownership: The
Property Clause
* Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Web-Site - "http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov
* To view a list of the distribution of wild horses and burros by state click
here.
* Click here
to see a chart of wild horse and burro population trends since passage of the
Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.
* Chart of wild horse and burro population by state -
http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/lrgimage/X182f02.jpg.
Problem Exercise: The Sagebrush Rebellion
B. Federal Power over Natural Resources: Other Constitutional
Sources
C. The Takings Limitation on Federal and State Power over
Natural Resources
Problem Exercise: Applying the Law of Takings
D. Other Limitations on Federal Power over Natural Resources
Further Reading and Relevant Websites
* http://envirofront.org/Other_Resources/Issue_Ref_Library/Nat_Res_IS/Public_Lands.html
