Land Purchase under the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA)
Under the provisions of FLTFA, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service (the Agencies) can only purchase inholdings that are located within a federally designated area, or that are adjacent to a federally designated area and contain exceptional resources.
Inholding: Any right, title, or interest held by a non-federal entity, in or to a tract of land that lies within the boundary of a federally designated area.
Federally designated area: An area, in existence on July 25, 2000, set aside for special management, including national parks, a national wildlife refuges, national forests, national monuments, national conservation areas, areas of critical environmental concern, national outstanding natural areas, national natural landmarks, research natural areas, wilderness or wilderness study areas, and units of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System or National Trails System.
Exceptional resource: A resource of scientific, natural, historic, cultural or recreational value that has been documented by a federal, state, or local government authority, and for which there is a compelling need for conservation and protection under the jurisdiction of a federal agency in order to maintain the resource for the benefit of the public.
Lands meeting the above criteria may be nominated for sale to the Agencies by any individual, group or governmental body. If submitted by a party other than the landowner, the nomination must also be signed by the landowner(s) to confirm their willingness to sell. The specific procedures for submitting nominations are outlined in the Federal Register Notice that was published on March 7, 2006. The nomination and identification of an inholding does not obligate the landowner to convey the property nor does it obligate the United States to purchase the property. All purchases must be at fair market value consistent with applicable provisions of the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions.
Nominating Lands for Sale:
Currently, nominations can be submitted to the Agencies at any time, but will only be considered eligible by the Agencies if:
The nomination package is complete;
A federal land use plan calls for acquisition of the land or interest in land being nominated;
The land does not contain a hazardous substance or is not otherwise contaminated;
The land would not be difficult or uneconomic to manage as federal land; and
Acceptable title can be conveyed in accordance with federal title standards.
All nominations must be submitted on the Nomination Form that can downloaded from the link below or obtained from any of the Agencies listed below. Nominations should be sent directly to the Agency having management jurisdiction of the federally designated area that the land is within or adjacent to. The Agencies' addresses and the individuals that nominations should be addressed to are listed below:
Bureau of Land Management
FLTFA Nomination
2800 Cottage Way, Room W-1834
Phone: 916-978-4647
National Park Service
FLTFA Nomination
Attn: Greg Gress
1111 Jackson Street, Suite 700
Oakland, CA 94607-4807
Phone: 510-817-1414
FLTFA Nomination
Attn: Mike Miller
1323 Club Drive
Phone: 707-562-8961
U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service FLTFA Nomination
Attn: Steve Dyer
California/Nevada Operations Office
2800 Cottage Way
Phone: 916-414-6445
Prioritizing Nominations:
Nominations will be assessed and prioritized in accordance with the jointly prepared Statewide Interagency Implementation Agreement for FLTFA. Consideration will be given to the amount of funding in the FLTFA account available for land purchase, and to acquisitions that are supported by local government entities. All land purchases must be approved by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture.
>