The Nome Nugget

Applications For Use Of Public Lands Set Record

Four thousand applications for use of the public domain were filed during March which sets a record for recent years, according to a Bureau of Land Management report received by Secretary of the Interior Oscar L. Chapman.

This total is more than 50 per cent higher than the monthly average over the last year. Of the total number, 400 of the applications were filed in Alaska.

March not only set a record in the number of new applications but in the number of cases on which final action was taken, the report shows. A total of 6,800 land cases were marked closed during the month.

The report reflects a continuation of a steady trend in new applications which began last July, according to Marion Clawson, director of the Bureau of Land Management. Since July 1, 1949, about 24,000 new applications have been received. Increased activity during March was reported generally throughout the Bureau's seven regions with particular interest shown in oil and gas leases and small tract applications.

Small tracts are parcels of land, five acres or less, which has been classified for use of home, business, or recreational sites. A total of 1,809 applications were made for oil and gas leases, while 1,261 applications were received for small tracts during the month.

Although oil and gas leases and small tracts made up the bulk of the 4,000 applications filed during the month, the Bureau receives applications for 23 major types of land use, including homestead, desert land entries, mineral locations, grazing leases, and timber sales.

During the last year the Bureau has collected more than $37,000,000 from administration of the public domain. The States share of this amount was in excess of $13,000,000. The remainder was placed in the federal treasury for various purposes, including reclamation of arid lands and improvement of the public range.