CHARGING FAIR MARKET VALUE FOR USING FEDERAL LANDS: SOME IMPLICATIONS OF AN IGNORED POLICY

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) specifically states, “The Congress declares that it is the policy of the United States
that-…(9) the United States receive fair market value of the use of federal lands and their resources unless otherwise provided by statute... .” This policy either has been ignored or unevenly administered by federal agencies. As a result, some user groups are subsidized to a much greater degree than others. If all user groups were treated equally, there would be a significant change in net benefits received by users and agency revenues. Charging fair market value for all uses of federal lands also would affect the use of
public and private lands.