the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service have ap- preciated 22-fold, and are now worth some $500 billion.
Clawson notes that the 200-year history of federal land use policy has been one of constant change. Until the early 19th century, the focus was on acquisition. A period of disposal through homesteading (which con- tinued until 1934), sales, and land grants for colleges and railroads fol- lowed. Beginning with the creation of the first National Forests (then called "forest...