U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
A Profile of Land
Protection Actions
As of September 30, 2003
John and Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS
Morton NWR
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.
David Pitkin/USFWS
Bandon Marsh NWR
Eminent Domain Policy
The Service, like all Federal agencies,
has the authority to use Eminent
Domain to acquire lands and interest
in lands for the public good through
litigation. The Service, however,
seldom uses this authority. It is our
practice to acquire lands from willing
sellers.
Service policy is to acquire land
through Eminent Domain as a last
recourse and 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
Acquisition Policies Act (Public Law
91-646), and Financial Institutions
Reform, Recovery and Enforcement
Act of 1989 (Public Law 101-73).
Don Griggs/USFWS
Anahuac NWR
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 (1994-2003) the Service
has not acquired any acres through
court action (except, with the
concurrence of the seller, actions
used merely to clear title or
settle values).
USFWS
Upper Mississippi River NWFR
John and Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS
Ten Thousand Islands NWR
Lands Under Control of the Service
as of September 30, 2003
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
acquired fee title or other interests
in 510,317 acres in Fiscal Year 2003,
for a total of over 95,875,284 acres
under our control. Over 82,095,401
of those acres are reserved from the
Public Domain (Public Domain lands
are those lands that have never left
Federal ownership); 4,832,637 acres
were purchased in fee title; 720,269
acres represent donations or gifts;
3,625,038 acres are protected
through agreements, easements
or leases; and 4,601,940 acres
were acquired by other Federal
agencies. Primary authority can be
transferred to the Service or we can
manage the lands pursuant to an
agreement as an overlay refuge.
The number of National Wildlife
Refuges increased from 540 in
FY 2002 to 542 in FY 2003.
The counties in which Waterfowl
Production Areas are located total
203 nationwide. We also oversee
69 National Fish Hatcheries,
50 Coordination Areas, and
47 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,
2003” (see our website address on
back of brochure).
John and Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS
Alaska Maritime NWR
Acquisition Summary Fiscal Years 1999 - 2003
(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).
Agreement,
Fiscal Acquisition Reserved- Federal Agency Devise or Lease, or Total
Year Transactions Public Domain Transfer/Overlay Gift Purchase Easement Acre
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
2002 784 1,743 171 36,187 68,014 118,143 233,961
2003 683 26,498 318,103 2,780 73,825 88,569 510,317
Tota1 4,091 21,982 1,393,177 67,417 390,894 700,501 2,585,216
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Division of Realty
Washington, DC 20240
http://realty.fws.gov
March 2004
Baca National Wildlife Refuge
Cover photo courtesy of Karen R. Hollingsworth, Three Black Ducks
