No matter what you may have heard or read, there is no such thing as "free land from the government." There is no federal homesteading program and public land the government does sell is sold only at market value.

Under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLMPA), the federal government took over ownership of public lands and abolished all remaining traces of the often-amended Homestead Act of 1862. Specifically, the FLMPA declared that, "the public lands be retained in Federal ownership, unless as a result of the land use planning procedure provided in this Act, it is determined that disposal of a particular parcel will serve the national interest..."

Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees the use of some 264 million acres of public land, representing about one-eighth of all the land in the United States. In passing the FLMPA, Congress assigned the main duty of the BLM as "the management of the public lands and their various resource values so that they are utilized in the combination that will best meet the present and future needs of the American people."

What about ads for "low cost" government land?
Be very careful of any company or person selling information about how to buy federal public land for what sound like extremely low prices, often as low as $1.25 per acre. While the BLM does occasionally sell land, it is priced at fair market value, as required by law. 

Federal law requires that all parcels of public land sold by BLM fall into one of three categories:

• scattered and isolated tracts that are difficult or uneconomical to manage; 
• tracts acquired by the BLM for a specific purpose that are no longer needed for that purpose; 
• or land where disposal will serve important public objectives, such as community expansion and economic development.

In addition, BLM only sells public land located in the western states of: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. Due to the rapid growth of cities and towns in the Western U.S. resulting in an increased need for open space, BLM has become even more reluctant to sell land than in the past. Consumers should contact any BLM office, visit the BLM's Land Sales and Disposal Web site, or call 202-452-5125 for more information about BLM land sales.

Several other federal agencies also sell land, houses and other real property. For more information, see: Government Sales and Auctions: Real Estate

Maps of Public Lands Managed by BLM
Small Map (1288 x 760 Pixels)
Large Map (4168 x 2460 Pixels)

Homesteading
Under the Homestead Act of 1862, any resident of the United States could obtain up to 160 acres of open land provided that, for five consecutive years, the homesteader continuously lived on and cultivated the land. After six months of occupancy, the homesteader could buy the land from the government for $1.25 per acre. After successful completion of the five-year residency, the homesteader paid a $15 filing fee and received clear title to the land. Non-citizen homesteaders were required to become U.S. citizens within the five-year period. In addition, the homesteader could not sell or give away any part of the land during the five-year period.

After being amended many times over the years, the Homestead Act was was repealed on October 21, 1976, but the date for homesteading public lands in Alaska was extended until October 21, 1986. It is estimated that about 60,000 families established homes under the Homestead Act.