Federal Lands: Public Land Access (Testimony, 11/09/93,
GAO/T-RCED-94-72).

According to managers at the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), access to more than 50 million acres of public land in
the United States is inadequate, a situation that can potentially reduce
the public's recreational opportunities and interfere with the
government's land management.  Private landowners are increasingly
unwilling to grant public access across their land because of concerns
about vandalism and potential liability or because of desires for
privacy or exclusive personal use.  To overcome access problems, the
Forest Service and BLM may acquire all rights and interests associated
with the land or obtain perpetual easements.  In fiscal years 1989-91,
the Forest Service and BLM acquired permanent legal public access to
about 4.5 million acres of federal land.  The two agencies had plans as
of October 1991 to open another 9.3 million acres of federal land to the
public.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-RCED-94-72
     TITLE:  Federal Lands: Public Land Access
      DATE:  11/09/93
   SUBJECT:  National forests
             Public lands
             Land management
             Federal property management
             Land use agreements
             Legal rights
             National recreation areas
             National parks
             Personal property
             Outdoor recreation
IDENTIFIER:  Los Padres National Forest (CA)
             
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