U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
A Profile of Land
Protection Actions
As of September 30, 2001
Land Protection Policy for the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
acquires lands and waters consistent
with legislation, other Congressional
guidelines, and Executive Orders for
the conservation, management, and
where appropriate, restoration of
ecosystems, fish, wildlife, plants, and
related habitat, and to provide for
compatible, wildlife oriented public
use for educational and recreational
purposes.
These lands include national wildlife
refuges, national fish hatcheries,
waterfowl production areas, and
other areas.
We acquire land and water interests
including, but not limited to, fee
title, easements, leases, and other
interests. We encourage donations
of desired lands or interests.
Funding for acquisitions comes from
receipts, such as Federal Duck
Stamp sales, entrance fees to certain
National Wildlife Refuges, import
taxes on arms and ammunition, and
appropriations under the Land and
Water Conservation Fund Act.
Eminent Domain Policy
The Service, like all Federal
agencies, is given the power of
Eminent Domain that allows the use
of litigation to acquire lands and
interest in lands for the public good.
The Service, however, seldom uses
this power. It is our general practice
to acquire lands from willing sellers
and we are rarely compelled to buy
specific habitats within a short period
of time.
Service policy is to acquire land
through Eminent Domain only to:
■ determine the legal owner (clear
title),
■ settle a difference of opinion of
value (when the owner is
agreeable to court action), or
■ prevent uses which would cause
irreparable damage to the
resources that the unit was
established to protect.
In all cases, whether or not Eminent
Domain is necessary, the Service
offers not less than market value as
determined by an approved appraisal,
using professional standards and
Federal requirements, i.e., Uniform
Standards of Professional Appraisal
Practice, Uniform Appraisal
Standards for Federal Land
Acquisitions, Uniform Relocation
Assistance and Real Property
Acquisitions Policies Act (P.L. 91-646),
and Financial Institutions Reform,
Recovery and Enforcement Act of
1989 (P.L. 101-73).
Frequency of U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service Eminent Domain Actions
The Service has used Eminent
Domain sparingly throughout its
land acquisition history. The Service
recognizes the possible social and
economic impacts of acquiring
private property by exercising the
right of Eminent Domain and does
its utmost to avoid using this
approach.
In recent years this has become
increasingly true as greater
emphasis is placed on acquisition
from willing sellers. Over the past
ten years (1992-2001) the Service has
not acquired any acres through court
action, (except for actions used
merely to clear title or settle values
and with the concurrence of the
seller).
Lands Under Control of the Service
as of September 30, 2001
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
acquired fee title or other interests
in over 1,213,396 acres in Fiscal Year
2001, for a total of over 95,260,029
acres under our control. Over
82,086,584 of those acres are
reserved from the Public Domain;
another 4,682,339 acres were
purchased in fee title; 678,483 acres
represent donations or gifts;
3,528,384 acres are protected
through agreements, easements or
leases; and 4,284,239 acres were
acquired by other Federal agencies.
We have either primary or
secondary jurisdiction over
the lands acquired by other
agencies, depending on whether
accountability has been transferred
to the Service.
The number of National Wildlife
Refuges increased from 530 in
FY 2000 to 538 in FY 2001.
The counties in which Waterfowl
Production Areas are located total
202 nationwide. We also oversee
70 National Fish Hatcheries,
50 Coordination Areas, and
48 Administrative Sites.
Additional detailed information can
be found in the “Report of Lands
Under Control of the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service as of September 30,
2001” (see our website address on
back of brochure).
Acquisition Summary Fiscal Years 1997 - 2001
(In Acres)
NOTE: Negative acreage will appear when more acres were divested than acquired during the fiscal year (e.g., in FY 1999
the Service relinquished its secondary jurisdiction over certain Bureau of Reclamation public domain lands at the North
Platte National Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska).
Fiscal Acquisition Reserved- Federal Agency Devise or Lease Easement, Total
Year Transactions Public Domain Transfer/Overlay Gift Purchase or Agmt. Acre
1997 658 0 94,021 2,123 60,389 98,132 254,665
1998 721 1,866 8,676 2,932 83,086 85,680 182,240
1999 803 (-2,782) 925 15,843 124,354 163,581 301,921
2000 872 0 68,095 10,524 55,794 190,208 325,621
2001 949 (-3,477) 1,005,883 2,083 68,907 140,000 1,213,396
Total 4,003 (-4,393) 1,177,600 33,505 392,530 677,601 2,277,843
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Division of Realty
Washington, DC 20240
http://realty.fws.gov
January 2002
Dakota Tallgrass Prairie Wildlife Management Area.
All photos © Courtesy of Jim Brandenburg and the Brandenburg Prairie
Foundation
