Federal government owned land
The federal government owns and manages more than a quarter of the roughly 2 billion acres of land in the US. These lands are managed for many purposes, primarily preservation, recreation, and development of natural resources. Five primary federal agencies manage about 95% of this federally-owned-and-managed land. The five agencies and the land they managed are:
|
Fiscal year (Acres in thousands) |
|
1990 |
|
|
2000 |
|
|
2010 |
|
|
2018 |
||||
|
Agency |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bureau of Land Management |
|
|
272,029 |
|
|
|
264,398 |
|
|
|
247,859 |
|
|
|
244,391 |
|
Forest Service |
|
|
191,367 |
|
|
|
192,355 |
|
|
|
192,881 |
|
|
|
192,919 |
|
Fish and Wildlife Service |
|
|
86,822 |
|
|
|
88,226 |
|
|
|
88,949 |
|
|
|
89,206 |
|
National Park Service |
|
|
76,134 |
|
|
|
77,931 |
|
|
|
79,691 |
|
|
|
79,946 |
|
Department of Defense |
|
|
20,501 |
|
|
|
24,052 |
|
|
|
19,422 |
|
|
|
8,850 |
|
Total federally-owned land |
|
|
646,853 |
|
|
|
646,962 |
|
|
|
628,802 |
|
|
|
615,312 |
|
Total land in US |
|
|
2,271,343 |
|
|
|
2,271,343 |
|
|
|
2,271,343 |
|
|
|
2,271,343 |
|
Percentage of land in US federally-owned |
|
|
28% |
|
|
|
28% |
|
|
|
28% |
|
|
|
27% |
† Data source is the Congressional Research Service paper titled Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data, dated February 21, 2020.
Federal government owned, otherwise managed, and leased land – non-public domain
Our Government sometimes refers to the land it owns and manages as public domain lands and acquired lands. According to the Congressional Research Service, public domain lands are those ceded by the original states or obtained from a foreign sovereign (via purchase, treaty, or other means). Acquired lands were obtained from a state or individual by exchange, purchase, or gift. About 90% of all federal lands are public domain lands, while the other 10% are acquired lands. Many laws were enacted that related only to public domain lands. Even though the distinction has lost most of its underlying significance today, different laws may still apply depending on the original nature of the lands involved. Owned, otherwise managed, and leased non-public domain land and related costs are as follows:
|
Fiscal year |
|
2015 |
|
|
2016 |
|
|
2019 |
|||
|
Land acres 1 |
|
|
49,601,819 |
|
|
|
42,343,516 |
|
|
|
26,751,339 |
|
Owned and otherwise managed acres |
|
|
47,909,576 |
|
|
|
41,015,497 |
|
|
|
25,209,573 |
|
Total annual operating costs (in thousands) 2,3 |
|
$ |
122,890 |
|
|
$ |
125,059 |
|
|
$ |
137,551 |
|
Leased acres |
|
|
1,692,243 |
|
|
|
1,328,020 |
|
|
|
1,361,866 |
|
Total annual lease costs (in thousands) 2,4 |
|
$ |
49,568 |
|
|
$ |
50,728 |
|
|
$ |
42,349 |
† Data source is the General Services Administration (GSA) FY 2019 Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP) Open Data Set. The GSA reports that Department of Defense (DOD) data is not available for 2017 and 2018. In addition, the GSA reports that the “DOD made progress in addressing data quality concerns and is included in FY 2019. As a result, comparisons between FY 2019 and previous years’ data is not recommended.” It does not make sense for us to report 2017 and 2018 without DOD data, as it comprises a large portion of the data set. As such, we have limited the data in this section to the dates shown in the table above.
1 Includes federal government owned and managed museum trust, state government owned, and withdrawn land, and leased land. Does not include public domain land. Details may not add to total due to rounding.
2 It is difficult to compare owned and otherwise managed and leased annual operating costs due to their make-up. Owned and otherwise managed annual operating costs only includes operations and maintenance costs, whereas leased annual operating costs also includes rent to capture the full cost of the asset.
3 Owned and otherwise managed annual operating and maintenance costs consist of the following: 1) recurring maintenance and repair costs; 2) utilities (includes plant operation and purchase of energy); 3) cleaning and/or janitorial costs (includes pest control, refuse collection, and disposal including recycling operations); and 4) roads/grounds expenses (includes grounds maintenance, landscaping, and snow and ice removal from roads, piers, and airfields).
4 Lease costs comprise: 1) annual net rent to the lessor – the fully serviced rental to the lessor minus the annual operating and maintenance costs and 2) annual operating and maintenance costs – reoccurring maintenance and repair costs including: utilities (includes plant operation and purchase of energy); cleaning and/or janitorial costs (includes pest control, refuse collection, and disposal, including recycling operations); roads/grounds expenses (includes grounds maintenance, landscaping, and snow and ice removal from roads, piers, and airfields).
Owned and otherwise managed (OOM) and leased non-public domain land by agency as of 2019 was as follows:
|
Fiscal year (In thousands) |
|
Acres |
|||||||||
|
Agency |
|
OOM |
|
|
Leased |
|
|
Total |
|||
|
Corps of Engineers |
|
|
7,574 |
|
|
|
83 |
|
|
|
7,657 |
|
Army Department |
|
|
6,042 |
|
|
|
1,004 |
|
|
|
7,046 |
|
Department of Interior |
|
|
6,271 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
6,272 |
|
Department of Energy |
|
|
2,191 |
|
|
|
9 |
|
|
|
2,200 |
|
Navy Department |
|
|
1,728 |
|
|
|
32 |
|
|
|
1,760 |
|
Air Force Department |
|
|
725 |
|
|
|
102 |
|
|
|
827 |
|
Other department or agency |
|
|
678 |
|
|
|
131 |
|
|
|
809 |
|
Total |
|
|
25,209 |
|
|
|
1,362 |
|
|
|
26,571 |
† Data source is the General Services Administration (GSA) FY 2019 Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP) Open Data Set.
State and local government owned and leased land
We are not aware of a source of state and local government OOM and leased land for each government.
Below is detail of federal and state-OOM and leased buildings and structures.
|
Fiscal year |
|
2015 |
|
|
2016 |
|
|
2019 |
|||
|
Buildings 4 |
|
|
273,125 |
|
|
|
267,127 |
|
|
|
286,773 |
|
OOM 1 |
|
|
253,481 |
|
|
|
247,723 |
|
|
|
268,043 |
|
Total square feet (in thousands) |
|
|
2,520,991 |
|
|
|
2,490,265 |
|
|
|
2,546,061 |
|
Total annual operating costs (in thousands) 3,6 |
|
$ |
11,644,642 |
|
|
$ |
12,022,269 |
|
|
$ |
16,356,346 |
|
Leased |
|
|
19,644 |
|
|
|
19,404 |
|
|
|
18,730 |
|
Total square feet (in thousands) |
|
|
283,125 |
|
|
|
280,103 |
|
|
|
286,138 |
|
Total annual lease costs (in thousands) 3,7 |
|
$ |
7,103,442 |
|
|
$ |
7,284,160 |
|
|
$ |
7,630,462 |
|
Structures 7 |
|
|
496,022 |
|
|
|
496,174 |
|
|
|
525,240 |
|
OOM 1 |
|
|
492,263 |
|
|
|
492,725 |
|
|
|
521,948 |
|
Total annual operating costs (in thousands) 3,6 |
|
$ |
8,787,913 |
|
|
$ |
6,326,949 |
|
|
$ |
12,023,494 |
|
Leased |
|
|
3,759 |
|
|
|
3,449 |
|
|
|
3,292 |
|
Total annual lease costs (in thousands) 3,7 |
|
$ |
58,053 |
|
|
$ |
59,135 |
|
|
$ |
64,360 |
|
Buildings real property utilization 8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Utilized |
|
|
96,718 |
|
|
|
89,359 |
|
|
|
117,601 |
|
Underutilized |
|
|
3,598 |
|
|
|
7,859 |
|
|
|
4,413 |
|
Unutilized |
|
|
3,414 |
|
|
|
3,120 |
|
|
|
15,199 |
|
Repair needs 1,2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OOM building repair needs costs (in thousands) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$ |
123,445,593 |
|
OOM structure repair needs costs (in thousands) 5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$ |
126,497,876 |
† Data source is the GSA FY 2019 FRPP Open Data Set. The GSA reports that DOD data is not available for 2017 and 2018. In addition, the GSA reports that the “DOD made progress in addressing data quality concerns and is included in FY 2019. As a result, comparisons between FY 2019 and previous years’ data is not recommended.” It does not make sense for us to report 2017 and 2018 without DOD data, as it comprises a large portion of the data set. As such, we have limited the data in this section to the dates shown in the table above.
1 Includes federal government, foreign government, museum trust, and state government owned and otherwise managed.
2 Repair needs are only a required data element for owned assets. Repair needs is the objective amount necessary to ensure that a constructed asset is restored to a condition substantially equivalent to the originally intended and designed capacity, efficiency, or capability. This should exclude any consideration of the likelihood that the repair will be performed at any time before the asset’s disposition.
3 It is difficult to compare owned and leased annual operating costs due to their make-up. Owned and otherwise managed annual operating costs only includes operations and maintenance costs, whereas leased annual operating costs also includes rent to capture the full cost of the asset.
4 Buildings (examples): office, laboratories, hospital, warehouse
5 Structures (examples): airfield pavements, flood control and navigation, utility systems, navigation, and traffic aids
6 Owned and otherwise managed annual operating and maintenance costs consist of the following: 1) recurring maintenance and repair costs; 2) utilities (includes plant operation and purchase of energy); 3) cleaning and/or janitorial costs (includes pest control, refuse collection, and disposal including recycling operations); and 4) roads/grounds expenses (includes grounds maintenance, landscaping, and snow and ice removal from roads, piers, and airfields).
7 Lease costs comprise: 1) annual net rent to the lessor – the fully serviced rental to the lessor minus the annual operating and maintenance costs and 2) annual operating and maintenance costs – reoccurring maintenance and repair costs including: utilities (includes plant operation and purchase of energy); cleaning and/or janitorial costs (includes pest control, refuse collection, and disposal, including recycling operations); roads/grounds expenses (includes grounds maintenance, landscaping, and snow and ice removal from roads, piers, and airfields).
8 The reporting of utilization is only required for offices, laboratories, hospitals, warehouses, family housing, dormitories, and barracks.
Buildings detail (2019)
As shown in the table above, our Government occupies 2.8 billion square feet of building space in the US and US territories, of which 2.5 billion square feet are owned and otherwise managed and 286 million square feet are leased. Information by use and by government agency as of 2019 are shown in the tables below:
|
Buildings Real Property Use Fiscal year (in thousands, except per sq ft) |
OOM sq/ft1 |
|
Annual Operating and Maintenance Costs1,4 |
|
OOM Annual Costs per sq/ft1,4 |
|
|
Leased sq/ft |
|
Leased Annual Costs2,4 |
|
Leased Annual Costs per sq/ft 2,4 |
||||||||||||
|
Total |
|
|
2,546,061 |
|
|
$ |
16,356,346 |
|
|
$ |
6.42 |
|
|
|
|
286,138 |
|
|
$ |
7,630,462 |
|
|
$ |
26.67 |
|
Office |
|
|
508,123 |
|
|
$ |
3,163,337 |
|
|
$ |
6.23 |
|
|
|
|
181,657 |
|
|
$ |
5,461,767 |
|
|
$ |
30.07 |
|
Service |
|
|
401,422 |
|
|
$ |
2,154,282 |
|
|
$ |
5.37 |
|
|
|
|
6,777 |
|
|
$ |
96,611 |
|
|
$ |
14.26 |
|
Warehouses |
|
|
299,749 |
|
|
$ |
812,354 |
|
|
$ |
2.71 |
|
|
|
|
28,302 |
|
|
$ |
264,880 |
|
|
$ |
9.36 |
|
School |
|
|
248,705 |
|
|
$ |
1,536,556 |
|
|
$ |
6.18 |
|
|
|
|
3,052 |
|
|
$ |
27,393 |
|
|
$ |
8.97 |
|
Dormitories/Barracks |
|
|
227,714 |
|
|
$ |
1,267,189 |
|
|
$ |
5.56 |
|
|
|
|
1,828 |
|
|
$ |
19,279 |
|
|
$ |
10.54 |
|
Laboratories |
|
|
174,046 |
|
|
$ |
1,988,073 |
|
|
$ |
11.42 |
|
|
|
|
5,028 |
|
|
$ |
163,855 |
|
|
$ |
32.59 |
|
Other institutional uses |
|
|
164,791 |
|
|
$ |
1,052,001 |
|
|
$ |
6.38 |
|
|
|
|
1,702 |
|
|
$ |
19,292 |
|
|
$ |
11.33 |
|
Hospital |
|
|
118,353 |
|
|
$ |
1,215,879 |
|
|
$ |
10.27 |
|
|
|
|
659 |
|
|
$ |
22,218 |
|
|
$ |
33.72 |
|
Industrial |
|
|
110,531 |
|
|
$ |
941,636 |
|
|
$ |
8.52 |
|
|
|
|
870 |
|
|
$ |
9,845 |
|
|
$ |
11.31 |
|
Family housing |
|
|
46,068 |
|
|
$ |
185,923 |
|
|
$ |
4.04 |
|
|
|
|
1,442 |
|
|
$ |
13,431 |
|
|
$ |
9.31 |
|
Prisons and detention centers |
|
|
42,518 |
|
|
$ |
303,840 |
|
|
$ |
7.15 |
|
|
|
|
92 |
|
|
$ |
452 |
|
|
$ |
4.90 |
|
Outpatient healthcare facility |
|
|
41,367 |
|
|
$ |
465,711 |
|
|
$ |
11.26 |
|
|
|
|
14,222 |
|
|
$ |
496,368 |
|
|
$ |
34.90 |
|
Communications systems |
|
|
19,924 |
|
|
$ |
220,835 |
|
|
$ |
11.08 |
|
|
|
|
606 |
|
|
$ |
9,883 |
|
|
$ |
16.30 |
|
Navigation and traffic aids |
|
|
12,663 |
|
|
$ |
252,907 |
|
|
$ |
19.97 |
|
|
|
|
710 |
|
|
$ |
18,285 |
|
|
$ |
25.77 |
|
Child care center |
|
|
9,286 |
|
|
$ |
35,829 |
|
|
$ |
3.86 |
|
|
|
|
26 |
|
|
$ |
430 |
|
|
$ |
16.54 |
|
Museum |
|
|
6,988 |
|
|
$ |
36,534 |
|
|
$ |
5.23 |
|
|
|
|
289 |
|
|
$ |
42 |
|
|
$ |
0.15 |
|
Land port of entry |
|
|
5,121 |
|
|
$ |
64,678 |
|
|
$ |
12.63 |
|
|
|
|
841 |
|
|
$ |
17,208 |
|
|
$ |
20.46 |
|
Facility security |
|
|
4,966 |
|
|
$ |
23,484 |
|
|
$ |
4.73 |
|
|
|
|
50 |
|
|
$ |
456 |
|
|
$ |
9.14 |
|
Data centers |
|
|
3,017 |
|
|
$ |
68,536 |
|
|
$ |
22.72 |
|
|
|
|
405 |
|
|
$ |
10,612 |
|
|
$ |
26.19 |
|
Border/Inspection station |
|
|
2,794 |
|
|
$ |
38,633 |
|
|
$ |
13.83 |
|
|
|
|
7,037 |
|
|
$ |
92,798 |
|
|
$ |
13.19 |
|
Comfort stations/Restrooms |
|
|
1,773 |
|
|
$ |
30,788 |
|
|
$ |
17.37 |
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
Public facing facility |
|
|
1,576 |
|
|
$ |
35,010 |
|
|
$ |
22.22 |
|
|
|
|
18,368 |
|
|
$ |
560,504 |
|
|
$ |
30.51 |
|
Post office |
|
|
979 |
|
|
$ |
6,517 |
|
|
$ |
6.66 |
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
Aviation security related |
|
|
378 |
|
|
$ |
5,463 |
|
|
$ |
14.46 |
|
|
|
|
3,318 |
|
|
$ |
152,074 |
|
|
$ |
45.83 |
|
All other 3 |
|
|
93,209 |
|
|
$ |
450,351 |
|
|
$ |
4.83 |
|
|
|
|
8,857 |
|
|
$ |
172,779 |
|
|
$ |
19.51 |
† Data source is the GSA FY 2019 FRPP Open Data Set.
1 Includes federal government, foreign government, museum trust, and state government owned and otherwise managed.
2 Includes operations and maintenance costs and rent.
3 The All Other category is defined as “buildings that cannot be classified elsewhere.”
4 It is difficult to compare owned and leased annual operating costs due to their make-up. Owned and otherwise managed annual operating costs only includes operations and maintenance costs, whereas leased annual operating costs also includes rent to capture the full cost of the asset.
|
Fiscal year (In thousands) |
|
Building Square Feet |
|||||||||
|
Agency |
|
OOM |
|
|
Leased |
|
|
Total |
|||
|
Army Department |
|
|
743,582 |
|
|
|
19,776 |
|
|
|
763,358 |
|
Air Force Department |
|
|
450,843 |
|
|
|
5,426 |
|
|
|
456,269 |
|
Navy Department |
|
|
446,305 |
|
|
|
3,011 |
|
|
|
449,316 |
|
General Services Administration |
|
|
228,786 |
|
|
|
187,928 |
|
|
|
416,714 |
|
Department of Veterans Affairs |
|
|
156,900 |
|
|
|
19,656 |
|
|
|
176,556 |
|
Department of Energy |
|
|
112,691 |
|
|
|
608 |
|
|
|
113,299 |
|
Department of Interior |
|
|
99,885 |
|
|
|
2,959 |
|
|
|
102,844 |
|
Other department or agency |
|
|
307,069 |
|
|
|
46,774 |
|
|
|
353,843 |
|
Total |
|
|
2,546,061 |
|
|
|
286,138 |
|
|
|
2,832,199 |
† Data source is the GSA FY 2019 FRPP Open Data Set.
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that federal agencies continue to face long-standing challenges in several areas of real property management, including: (1) effectively disposing of excess and underutilized property, (2) collecting reliable real property data for decision making, and (3) protecting federal facilities.31
A federal Indian reservation is an area of land reserved for a tribe or tribes under treaty or other agreement with the US, executive order, or federal statute or administrative action as permanent tribal homelands, and where the federal government holds title to the land in trust on behalf of the tribe. Approximately 56.2 million acres (approximately 2% of total US land area) are held in trust by the US for various Indian tribes and individuals. There are approximately 326 Indian land areas in the US administered as federal Indian reservations (i.e. reservations, pueblos, rancherias, missions, villages, communities, etc.). The largest is the 16 million-acre Navajo Nation Reservation located in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The smallest is a 1.32-acre parcel in California where the Pit River Tribe’s cemetery is located. Many of the smaller reservations are less than 1,000 acres.
We are not aware of a current aggregated source for land held by our Government outside of the US. However, the Department of Defense (DOD) reports on its overseas holdings. As of 2018 (the latest available data), the DOD managed a worldwide real property portfolio that spanned 45 foreign countries, including 514 overseas sites: