Federal Land Management Agencies: Appropriations and Revenues (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781505589191)

A perennial focus for Congress is on appropriations for management of federal lands and resources. Issues include the purposes for which appropriations are used, factors influencing their distribution among states, and the extent to which appropriations are used on nonfederal lands. Congress also continues to be interested in the revenues derived from federal lands and resources. Questions relate to the amount of revenue generated on federal lands, the sources of revenue, and factors affecting the variation among states in the amount and type of revenue generated. Approximately 95% of federal lands are managed by four agencies: the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), and Forest Service (FS). Their FY2013 appropriations were $2,048.1 million for BLM, $2,591.6 million for FWS, $3,305.8 million for NPS, and $5,709.8 million for FS. Of these totals, FS received the largest discretionary appropriation ($4,934.7 million) while FWS had the highest mandatory appropriation ($1,053.1 million). The largest discretionary appropriation for FS was for Wildland Fire Management; for the other three agencies, it was the main operations account. The agencies have many sources of mandatory appropriations, some of which are common among them and across states (e.g., recreation fees) while others are unique to one agency or allocated to one state. Another distinction concerns the portion of appropriations used on lands not managed by the agencies, ranging from little in the case of BLM to roughly two-thirds for FWS. Revenue collections during FY2013 differed among the agencies, with $18.9 million for FWS, $223.6 million for FS, $333.4 million for NPS, and $525.0 million for BLM. Depending on the agency and state, sources of revenue might include land sales, grazing, timber, hardrock minerals, recreation, and rights of way. Influencing the allocation of appropriations among states and the amount of revenue collected in each state were the acreage of federal land; land resources, conditions, availability, uses, and impacts; demographics; fire activity; and other factors. BLM, FWS, NPS, and FS also receive federal lands highway funds from the Federal Highway Administration. A total of $573.8 million in highway funding for federal lands was distributed in FY2013, with almost half ($280.6 million) going to NPS and another two-fifths ($227.2 million) to state Programming Decisions Committees (bodies that make some project funding decisions). The remainder went to FWS ($36.5 million), FS ($19.8 million), and BLM ($9.6 million). Distributions among states ranged from less than $0.1 million to $86.5 million. The Payments in Lieu of Taxes program and FS Payments to States program compensate local governments for the presence of federally owned land. PILT applies to many types of federal lands, and payments are calculated under a formula. The total PILT payment in FY2013 was $401.8 million, with state totals ranging from $0 to $41.4 million (for California). The FS Payments to States program-which includes Secure Rural Schools (SRS) payments-applies to counties with national forest lands and certain BLM forested lands. Payments are based on either historic or current revenue generated on the lands, and other considerations. FY2013 payments to states totaled $312.5 million, ranging from less than $0.1 million to $97.1 million (for Oregon).

Author: Congressional Research Service
ISBN-10: 1505589193
ISBN-13: 9781505589191
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 12/10/2014
Pages: 76
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.44lbs
Size: 11.02h x 8.50w x 0.16d