Who Controls the Land?
The Federal Government owns more than half the land in the West. The battle is over who gets to use it and for what purpose
THE GEOGRAPHY OF OWNERSHIP
Percentage of land owned by the Federal Government
Nevada 83% Utah 65% Idaho 62% Alaska 62% Oregon 52% Wyoming 50% Arizona 45% California 44% Colorado 36% New Mexico 34% Montana 28% Washington 28%
Source: Bureau of Land Management
WHO GETS COLORADO RIVER WATER
Upper Colorado (Compact of 1948) This section has a total allotment of 7.5 million acre-feet each year. The states do not have to take the full amount
Colorado 52% Utah 23% Wyoming 14% New Mexico 11%
Lower Colorado (Act of 1928) Also gets 7.5 million acre-feet
California 59% Arizona 37% Nevada 4%
Sources: Bureau of Reclamation; Colorado River Users Association
*plus 1 million acre-feet
COLLECTIONS FROM BLM-MANAGED LANDS (1999)
Grazing fees $14 million Timber receipts $5 million Mining claims $25 million Mineral royalties $1 billion
Source: Bureau of Land Management
WEATHERMAN DRAW
To the BLM it is designated as federal lease MTM-74615. It brings in just $1 an acre from the Anschutz Corp., which plans to drill for oil. But to the Comanche, Crow and Blackfeet it is revered as the Valley of the Chiefs
POWDER RIVER BASIN
With 100 new wells drilled each week on prime grazing land, the once bucolic landscape of the Powder River Basin is changing dramatically and uniting old foes--ranchers and environmentalists
RED TABLE MOUNTAIN
Conservationists are pitted against all-terrain-vehicle and snowmobile users in a battle over access to the White River National Forest. The outcome will set a tone for other national forests
CASCADE-SISKIYOU
Made a national monument in the final year of the Clinton Administration, it includes 53,000 scattered acres, putting at odds property owners, timber companies, ranchers and environmentalists
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
A 25-ft wide shaft tunnels 1,000 ft. down into the mountain to the Department of Energy's planned dumping site for thousands of tons of nuclear waste