[Public Land Statistics, 1996]
[Glossary]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]

GLOSSARY

ACEC:

Area of Critical Environmental Concern. ACECs are areas where special management is needed (a) to protect important historical, cultural, scenic, and natural areas or (b) to identify areas hazardous to human life and property.


Acquired lands:

Lands in Federal ownership that were obtained by the Government through purchase, condemnation, or gift; or by exchange. One category of public lands. (See Public lands.)


Administrative site:

A reservation of public lands for use as a site for public buildings, ranger stations, or other administrative facilities.


Administrative State:

Bureau of Land Management State Office having administrative jurisdiction. For example, the Montana State Office has administrative jurisdiction for Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Allocation of receipts:

Determination of moneys paid, or to be paid, to other funds, counties, or States out of receipts collected during the fiscal year reported, as required and/or specified by law.

ANCSA:

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of December 18, 1971 (Public Law 92-203, 85 Stat. 688).

Animal unit:

A standardized unit of measurement for range livestock that is equivalent to one cow, one horse, five sheep, five goats, or four reindeer, all over 6 months of age.

Animal unit month (AUM):

A standardized unit of measurement of the amount of forage necessary for the complete sustenance of one animal unit for a period of 1 month; also, a unit of measurement of grazing privileges that represents the privilege of grazing one animal unit for a period of one month.

Application:

A formal request for rights to use, or obtain eventual title to, public lands or resources.

Archaeological and historical site:

A site that contains either objects of antiquity or cultural values relating to history and/or prehistory that warrant special protection.

Big game habitat:

Habitat areas used by big game animals at some time during their yearly life cycle.

Boating:

Includes both motorized and nonmotorized boats. Motorized boating includes tour boats, power boating, river running (commercial and/or noncommercial), etc. Nonmotorized boating includes sailing, canoeing and kayaking, and river running (commercial and noncommercial), and other nonmotorized boats such as rowboats.

Bonus:

The cash consideration paid to the United States by the successful bidder for a mineral lease, such payment being made in addition to the rent and royalty obligations specified in the lease.

Cadastral survey:

A survey relating to land boundaries and subdivisions made to create units suitable for management or to define the limits of title. The distinguishing features of the cadastral surveys are the establishment of monuments on the ground to define the boundaries of the land and their identification in the records by field notes and plats.

Camping:

Includes auto and trailer camping, along with other camping at developed sites, and backcountry camping.

Candidate species:

Species designated as candidates for listing as threatened or endangered by the Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service. (Also see Endangered species and Threatened species.)

Carey Acts:

The acts of August 18, 1894 (28 Stat. 372), and March 15, 1910 (36 Stat. 237, 43 U.S.C. Sec. 643), which provide for grants of desert lands to States for disposition to bona fide settlers.

Ceded Indian lands:

Public lands to which Indian tribal title was relinquished to the United States by the Indians on condition that part of all of the proceeds from their sale or other disposition would be conveyed into the Treasury and held in trust for the Indians.

Certification:

The act of final approval of a State selection by the Director; also, the document that passes title to the selected lands to the State; also, a document that attests to the truth or authenticity of papers attached to it.

CFR:

Code of Federal Regulations.

Color-of-Title Act:

The Act of December 22, 1928 (43 U.S.C. Sec. 1068), as amended. Under the terms and provisions of this Act, a patent may be issued for a parcel of not more than 160 acres of public lands in instances where claim to the lands has been based on a written instrument containing defective evidence of title. The parcel must have been possessed in good faith by a claimant, his ancestors, or grantors for a period of more than 20 years.

Color-of-title entry:

A cash entry made by an applicant under the Color-of-Title Act.

Competitive mineral leasing:

Refers to leases issued by the United States where there are known minerals or where inference of probable mineralization can be drawn from knowledge of the geology of the land. The lands are offered for lease by competitive bidding after publication of the offer of the lands for leasing. The lease is issued to the highest bidder, who is determined at a sale by public auction. (See also Leasable minerals and Noncompetitive mineral leasing.)

Contract fire protection:

Fire protection given lands owned, leased, or controlled by the United States and administered by the Bureau of Land Management on which complete fire protection is extended through the use of fire protection forces and facilities contracted for by the Bureau.

Crossing permit:

An authorization issued for trailing livestock across Federal range for proper and lawful purposes.

Cultural resources:

Remains of human activity, occupation, or endeavor, reflected in districts, sites, structures, buildings, objects, artifacts, ruins, works of art, architecture, and natural features that were of importance in past human events. These resources consist of (1) physical remains, (2) areas where significant human events occurred, even though evidence of the event no longer remains, and (3) the environment immediately surrounding the actual resource.

Desert Land Entry:

An entry of irrigable arid agricultural public lands for the purpose of reclamation, irrigation, and cultivation in part.

Disposition:

A transaction which leads to the transfer of title of public lands, and/or resources upon or in these lands, from the Federal Government.

Eastern States:

Includes all states bordering on or east of the Mississippi River.

Endangered species:

Any animal or plant species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. (Also see Candidate species and Threatened species.)

Entry:

An application to acquire title to public lands.

Entry, allowed:

An application to acquire title to public lands that has been approved, either as an original entry or a final entry.

Entry, cash:

A final entry where the applicant pays cash or its equivalent.

Entry, commuted:

A final entry where the applicant pays the statutory price for the lands in consideration for reduction of residence and improvement requirements.

Entry, final:

An allowed entry where the applicant has complied with all the requirements of law and regulations.

Entry, original:

An allowed entry where the applicant is permitted to proceed with earning title to the land.

Entry, unperfected:

An allowed original entry where the applicant has not met all of the requirements of the law and/or regulations to permit making final entry for patent.

Exchange:

A transaction whereby the Federal Government receives land or interests in land in exchange for other land or interests in land.

Exchange lease (coal):

An exchange of coal resources when it is in the public interest to shift the impact of mineral operations from leased lands, or portions of leased lands, to currently unleased lands to preserve public resource or social values, and to carry out Congressional directives authorizing coal lease exchanges.

Family unit:

An installation with camping, picnicking, or trailer facilities to serve the needs of one family-sized group.

Federal land:

All classes of land owned by the Federal Government.

Field examination:

An on-the-ground investigation of selected public lands with regard to valuation, land use, application for entry, mineralization, etc.

Fire suppression:

Fire control activities concerned with controlling and extinguishing a fire, starting at the time the fire is discovered.

Fishable stream:

A stream that currently supports a sport fishery on public lands. These streams are not necessarily accessible to the public.

Fishing:

Includes fishing from the shore, and from a boat when the boating is secondary to the fishing activity. Included are warm-water, cold-water, and ice fishing; crabbing; seining; and gigging.

FLPMA:

Federal Land Policy and Management Act of October 21, 1976 (Public Law 94-579, 90 Stat. 2743), commonly called the "Organic Act" for the Bureau of Land Management.

Force account fire protection:

Fire protection given lands owned, leased, or controlled by the United States and administered by the Bureau of Land Management on which complete fire protection is extended through the use of the protection forces and facilities supervised and operated by the Bureau.

Free-use permit:

A permit to a governmental agency or nonprofit group to use mineral materials, such as sand and gravel, or other resources at no charge.

Grazing district:

An administrative subdivision of the rangelands under jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management established pursuant to Section 3 of the Taylor Grazing Act to facilitate management of rangeland resources.

Grazing-fee year:

March 1 of a given calendar year through the last day in February of the following year.

Grazing lease:

An authorization that permits the grazing of livestock on public lands outside the grazing districts during a specified period of time (Section 15 of the Taylor Grazing Act).

Grazing lease lands:

Lands outside grazing districts that are owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by the United States and administered by the Bureau of Land Management, and that are subject to leasing for grazing purposes under the Alaska Grazing Law of March 4, 1927; Section 15 of the Taylor Grazing Act of June 28, 1934; the Oregon Timber Conservation Act of August 28, 1937; or the Reindeer Act of September 1, 1937.

Grazing permit:

An authorization that permits the grazing of a specified number and class of livestock on a designated area of grazing district lands during specified seasons each year (Section 3 of the Taylor Grazing Act).

Hardrock minerals:

Locatable minerals that are neither leasable minerals (oil, gas, coal, oil shale, phosphate, sodium, potassium, sulphur, asphalt, or gilsonite) nor saleable mineral materials (e.g., common variety sand and gravel). Hardrock minerals include, but are not limited to, copper, lead, zinc, magnesium, nickel, tungsten, gold, silver, bentonite, barite, feldspar, fluorspar, and uranium.

Homestead entry, original:

An original entry under the homestead laws; also, the first homestead entry that was made by an individual; also, a homestead entry that was made pursuant to the first homestead law, the Act of May 20, 1862 (12 Stat. 392) as codified in Sec. 2289 of the Revised Statutes. (Also see Entry, original; Stockraising homestead.)

Hunting:

Includes big- and small-game hunting, waterfowl hunting, and trapping.

Indian allotment:

An allocation of a parcel of public lands or Indian reservation lands to an Indian for individual use; also, the lands so allocated.

Inland water area:

Includes permanent inland water surface, such as lakes, ponds, and reservoirs having 40 acres or more of the area; streams, sloughs, estuaries, and canals 1/8 of a statute mile or more in width; deeply indented embayments and sounds, other coastal waters behind or sheltered by headlands, or islands separated by less than 1 nautical mile of water; and islands having less than 40 acres of area.

Lake (or pond):

A natural standing body of water.

Land Area:

Includes dry land and land temporarily or partially covered by water, such as marshlands, swamps, and river flood plains; streams, sloughs, estuaries, and canals less than 1/8 of a statute mile in width; and lakes, reservoirs, and ponds having less than 40 acres of water-surface area.

Lease:

An authorization to possess and use public land for a period of time sufficient to amortize capital investments in the land. (See also Competitive leasing and Noncompetitive leasing).

Leasable minerals:

Oil and gas; oil shale; coal; potash; phosphate; sodium; sulfur in Louisiana and New Mexico; gold, silver, and quicksilver in certain private land claims; and silica deposits in certain parts of Nevada.

License:

An authority granted by the United States to do a particular act or series of acts upon public lands without the licensee possessing any estate or interest in the land itself.

Locatable minerals:

Whatever are recognized as minerals by the standard authorities, whether metallic or other substances, and are found in sufficient quantity and quality to justify their location under the Mining Law of 1872, as amended. (See also Hardrock minerals.)

Lode claim:

A mining claim located for "veins or lodes of quartz or other rock in place" (30 U.S.C. 23). Lode claims may extend for 1,500 feet along the strike of the vein or lode and to a maximum of 300 feet on either side of the vein or lode.

Logical mining unit (LMU):

An area of land in which the recoverable coal reserves can be developed in an efficient, economical, and orderly manner as a unit with due regard to conservation of coal reserves and other resources. An LMU may consist of one or more Federal coal leases and may include intervening or adjacent lands in which the United States does not own the coal. All lands in an LMU are under the control of one operator or lessee, can be developed as a single operation, and are contiguous. Formation of LMUs was authorized by the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976, which amended the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.).

LU project lands:

Privately owned submarginal farmlands incapable of producing sufficient income to support the family of a farm owner and purchased under Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of July 22, 1937. These acquired lands became known as "Land Utilization Projects" and were subsequently transferred from jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the U.S. Department of the Interior. They are now administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

MBF:

Thousand board feet. A board foot is a unit of lumber measurement 1 foot long, 1 foot wide, and 1 inch thick, or its equivalent. It is the standard unit of measurement in the logging and lumber industry by which standing timber is measured and sold and manufactured lumber is merchandised.

Millsite:

A site located on nonmineral land and used for mining or milling purposes (30 U.S.C. 42). Millsites are limited to 5 acres and may be located either by metes and bounds or by legal subdivision.

Mineral:

Organic and inorganic substances occurring naturally, with characteristics and economic uses that bring them within the purview of mineral laws; a substance that may be obtained under applicable laws from public lands by purchase, lease, or preemptive entry.

Mineral materials:

Minerals such as common varieties of sand, stone, gravel, pumice, pumicite, and clay that are not obtainable under the mining or leasing law but that can be obtained under the Materials Act of 1947, as amended.

Mineral permit:

A permit that authorizes prospecting for certain leasable minerals on public lands described in the permit.

Mineral reservation:

Retention of the mineral estate by the grantor of a property; the grantee or patentee owns the land surface but not the minerals.

Mining claim:

A mineral entry and appropriation of public land under the Mining Law of 1872, as amended (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.). There are four types of mining claims:  lode claims, placer claims, millsites, and tunnel sites. Only tunnel sites may not be patented. A valid lode or placer claim contains a discovery of a valuable mineral deposit subject to location under the Mining Law of 1872. A valid millsite is one that is being used for the support of a mining or milling operation. A valid tunnel site is one that is being diligently worked and maintained.

Mining claim location:

The staking and recordation of a lode or placer claim, millsite, or tunnel site on public land. A valid location is one that is properly located, recorded, and maintained under Section 314 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of October 21, 1976, and the mining laws of the State where the claim or site is located.

MMBF:

Million board feet. (See MBF.)

Motorized recreation travel (other than off-road vehicle):

Includes driving for pleasure (driving or riding in motorized land-based vehicles on roads). Vehicles include cars, vans, campers, mopeds, and motorcycles. The primary purpose of the riding or driving, train or bus touring (riding in buses, trains, and similar vehicles), and other motorized travel activities must be for recreation. This does not include interstate highway traffic, nor does it include sightseeing on major throughroads unless there is quantitative evidence (activity participation survey) that the public lands are being used for these recreation purposes.

Multiple use:

A combination of balanced and diverse resource uses that takes into account the long-term needs of future generations for renewable and nonrenewable resources, including, but not limited to, recreation, range, timber, minerals, watershed, and wildlife and fish, along with natural scenic, scientific, and historical values.

Noncompetitive mineral leasing:

Refers to leases issued to qualified applicants for lands not specifically known or presumed to contain mineral or petroleum deposits in quantity. Such leases can be issued on a first-come, first-served basis or through a random drawing procedure. (See also Competitive mineral leasing and Leasable minerals.)

Nonconsumptive trips:

Wildlife-associated recreation which is not fishing, hunting or trapping. Nonharvesting activities, such as feeding, photographing and observing fish and other wildlife, picnicking, camping, etc. are nonconsumptive wildlife activities.

Nonexclusive sites:

Mineral material disposal areas, such as community pits or common use areas, that are designated, maintained, and managed by the Bureau of Land Management and from which many small disposals are authorized under the Materials Act of 1947, as amended.

Nonmotorized recreation travel:

Activities that require nonmotorized equipment. Such activities include bicycling, horseback riding, running or jogging, sand sailing, backpacking, hiking, or walking for pleasure.

Nonoperating revenue:

Receipts of a miscellaneous nature, such as incidental receipts from taxes, fines, etc., that are not related specifically to, or received in the process of, conducting normal and regular business of the Bureau of Land Management as it pertains to the management of public lands and resources.

Nonuse:

An authorization issued to an applicant for nonuse of grazing privileges in whole or part; usually issued for one grazing season.

O&C lands:

Public lands in Western Oregon that were granted to the Oregon central railroad companies (later the Oregon & California Railroad Company) to aid in the construction of railroads but that were later forfeited and returned to the Federal Government by revestment of title. The term "O&C" lands, as often used, also refers to the reconveyed Coos Bay Military Wagon Road lands, which are public lands in Western Oregon that were once granted to the State of Oregon to aid in the construction of the Coos Bay Military Wagon Road but that were later forfeited and returned to Federal ownership by reconveyance.

Obligations:

Payments, and amounts which the Government is obligated to pay, for goods and services received (or contracted for future delivery) made from appropriations during the fiscal year indicated.

Off-road vehicle (ORV):

Any vehicle capable of, or designed for, travel on or immediately over land, water, or other natural terrain, deriving motive power from any source other than muscle. The term excludes (1) any nonamphibious registered motorboat; (2) any fire, emergency, or law enforcement vehicle while being used for official or emergency purposes; and (3) any vehicle whose use is expressly authorized by a permit, lease, license, agreement, or contract issued by the authorized officer or otherwise approved.

Off-road vehicle (ORV) travel:

Driving or riding in off-road areas (including trails). The type of vehicle and its capabilities are secondary to where and how the vehicle is used. The primary purpose of the riding or driving must be for recreation. Off-road travel includes off-road motorcycle and scooter driving, snowmobiling, etc.; specialized craft such as all-terrain vehicles, swamp buggies, and four-wheel drives; and conventional vehicles for off-road or trail purposes.

Operator:

An individual, group, association, or corporation authorized to conduct livestock grazing on public lands.

Original survey:

A cadastral survey that creates land boundaries and establishes them for the first time.

Paleontology:

A science dealing with the life of past geological periods as known from fossil remains.

Patent:

A Government deed; a document that conveys legal title to public lands to the patentee.

Permit:

A revocable authorization to use public land for a specified purpose for up to 3 years.

Placer claim:

A mining claim located for "all forms of deposits, excepting veins of quartz or other rock in place" (30 U.S.C. 35). A placer claim must generally be located by legal subdivision in conformance with the public land survey rather than by metes and bounds. A placer claim is limited to 20 acres per individual, although a placer claim may be up to 160 acres for an association of eight or more persons. Corporations are limited to 20-acre claims.

Plugged and abandoned:

This refers to new wells that have been drilled to total depth during the reporting period and did not encounter oil or gas in paying quantities. (Approved plugging and abandonment may or may not have yet occurred.)

Private leases:

Private leases (acquired) refer to oil and gas leases between private parties that are in existence at the time the Federal government purchases the mineral estate along with the surface as part of a Federal Government acquisition, for which a BLM serial number is assigned. 

PLO:

Public land order. An order affecting, modifying, or canceling a withdrawal or reservation that has been issued by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to powers of the President delegated to the Secretary by Executive Order 9146 of April 24, 1942, or 9337 of April 24, 1943.

Producible completions (oil and gas):

Separate completions existing on producible (i.e., physically and mechanically capable of production of oil and/or gas) or service wells at the end of the reporting period; or, separate completions that are made during the reporting period on newly drilled wells.

Producible leases:

Leases that have at least one producible well actually located within the lease, as of the last day of the reporting period; includes producible leases that received allocated production from wells located off the lease and which have no producible wells actually located on the lease, as of the last day of the reporting period.

Producible and service holes:

Wells with one or more producible oil or gas service completions.

Protraction diagram:

A diagram representing the plan of extension of cadastral surveys over unsurveyed public lands based upon computed values for the corner positions.

Public auction:

A sale of land through competitive, usually oral, bidding.

Public domain lands:

Original public domain lands that have never left Federal ownership; also, lands in Federal ownership that were obtained by the Government in exchange for public domain lands or for timber on public domain lands. One category of public lands.

Public lands:

Any land and interest in land owned by the United States that are administered by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management, without regard to how the United States acquired ownership, except for (1) lands located on the Outer Continental Shelf, and (2) lands held for the benefit of Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos. Includes public domain and acquired lands. (See definitions.)

Public land States:

Refers to the 30 states that made up the public domain at its greatest extent.  These states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

R&PP:

Recreation and Public Purposes Act. (See definition.)

Receipts:

All money received and credited to the proper account as required by law. Does not include collections held by the U.S. Treasury pending future determination of disposition by the Bureau of Land Management.

Reclamation homestead entry:

An entry initiated under the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 338; 43 U.S.C., Sec. 43 et seq.), that provides for the issuance of patents to applicants who settle upon and improve agricultural public land parcels not exceeding 160 acres within reclamation projects.

Recreation and Public Purposes Act:

Act of June 14, 1926 (44 Stat. 741), as amended, that provides for the purchase or lease of public lands by (a) Federal, State, or local governmental units for any activity that serves the interest of the general public consistent with public policy or (b) nonprofit organizations if the lands are to be used for recreation purposes in an established or proposed recreation project area.

Recreation visit:

A visit to Bureau of Land Management lands and waters by an individual for the purpose of engaging in any activities, except those that are part of or incidental to the pursuit of a gainful occupation, whether for a few minutes or a full day.

Rental:

The amount paid periodically (usually annually) by the holder of a lease or right-of-way grant for the right to use land or resources for the purposes set out in the lease or grant.

Reserved lands:

Federal lands that are dedicated or set aside for a specific public purpose or program and that are, therefore, generally not subject to disposition under the operation of all of the public land laws. (See also Revocation and Withdrawal.)

Reservoir:

A man-made, standing body of water whose water levels may be controlled.

Resurvey:

A cadastral survey to identify and re-mark the boundaries of lands that were established by a prior survey.

Revocation:

Generally, an action that cancels a previous official act; specifically, an action that cancels a withdrawal. Revocation is usually done in conjunction with restoration, which opens the public lands.

Right-of-way:

A permit or an easement that authorizes the use of lands for certain specified purposes, such as the construction of forest access roads or a gas pipeline.

Riparian habitat:

Areas of land directly influenced by permanent water. Lakeshores and streambanks are typical riparian areas. Excluded are such sites as ephemeral streams or washes that do not exhibit the presence of vegetation dependent upon free water in the soil. Wetland and riparian areas are especially important because they are a critical source of biological diversity.

Saleable minerals:

Sand, gravel, stone, soil, and other common-variety mineral materials disposed of through sales at not less than their appraised price or through free-use permits (see definition).

Sale of materials:

A competitive or noncompetitive sale by contract at not less than the appraised price of materials (timber and mineral) under the Materials Act of 1947, as amended.

Santini-Burton Act:

Act of December 23, 1980 (Public Law 96-586, 94 Stat. 3381), that provides for the orderly disposal of Federal lands in Clark County, Nevada, and also provides for the acquisition of environmentally sensitive lands in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Sawtimber:

Logs of sufficient size and quality to be suitable for conversion into lumber or veneer.

Section 3:

(See Grazing permit.)

Section 15:

(See Grazing lease.)

Service completion or hole:

Separate service completions that are for the benefit of oil and gas operations, e.g. water disposal, salt water disposal, water injection, gas injection, water source, steam injection, or monitoring.

Site-based recreation activities (other than camping, hunting, or nonmotorized travel):

Includes sightseeing (the viewing of scenery; natural, historic, and archaeological sites; landscapes; or other features), picnicking, nature study and photography, mountain climbing and caving, gathering and collecting activities (mushrooms, rocks, and flowers), interpretation (guided and unguided touring, talks, and programs), and other environmental education events.

Small game habitat:

Habitat areas used by small game animals (including upland game species) at
some time during their yearly life cycle.

Small tract lease:

A parcel of public lands of 5 acres or less that has been found to be chiefly valuable for sale or lease as a home, cabin, camp, recreational, convalescent, or business site under the Act of June 1, 1938.

Special land use permit:

A permit that authorizes the use of public land for a purpose not specifically authorized under other regulation or statute.

Special surveys:

Cadastral surveys that involve unusual application of, or departure from, the rectangular system. They often carry out the provisions of a special legislative act and include such work as small tract surveys; townsite surveys; island and omitted land surveys; homestead, homesite, trade and manufacturing site surveys; also the survey and resurvey of portions of sections. Alaska special surveys are metes and bounds surveys of areas settled upon or applied for under certain special land laws applicable to the State of Alaska.

State Office:

The first-level administrative unit of the Bureau of Land Management field organization. It comprises a geographic area consisting of one or more States.

Stockraising homestead:

A homestead not exceeding 640 acres initiated under the Stockraising Homestead Act, which provided for the homesteading of lands chiefly valuable for grazing and raising forage crops. Minerals in these lands were reserved to the United States. The provisions for stockraising homesteads were by implication repealed by the Taylor Grazing Act.

Stream with fishery potential:

A stream that currently does not support a sport fishery but that could be changed into a fishable stream with management (i.e., stocking, removal of barriers, etc.).

Sustained yield:

The achievement and maintenance in perpetuity of a high-level annual, or regular periodic, output of the various renewable resources of the public lands consistent with multiple use.

Threatened species:

Any animal or plant species likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a part of its range. (Also see Candidate species and Endangered species.)

Trespass:

An unauthorized use of Federal lands and/or resources.

Tunnel site:

A site located for the development of a vein or lode or for the anticipated discovery of previously unknown veins or lodes. The locator of a tunnel site is given the right to all veins cut by the tunnel within 3,000 feet of its portal, and to 1,500 feet along the length of each blind vein or lode cut. A tunnel site location lapses if not worked for a period of at least 6 months.

Unlawful enclosures or occupancy:

Enclosures of public lands made or maintained by any party, association, or corporation without valid claim.

U.S.C.:

United States Code.

Vacant public land:

Public land that is not reserved, appropriated, or set aside for a specific or designated purposes. Such land is not covered by any non-Federal right or claim other than permits, leases, rights-of-way, and unreported mining claims.

Visitor hour:

A unit used to measure duration of recreation use. A visitor hour involves the presence of a person on a recreation area or site for the purpose of engaging in recreation activities for either continuous, intermittent, or simultaneous periods of time aggregating 60 minutes.

Water-based recreation activities (other than boating or fishing):

Includes swimming, general water play, waterskiing, ski jumping, platter riding, and other similar activities that occur outside a boat.

Waterfowl habitat:

The total acreage of all wetlands, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs on BLM lands.  Uplands used for nesting are not included.

Wetlands:

Permanently wet or intermittently flooded areas where the water table (fresh, saline, or brackish) is at, near, or above the soil surface for extended intervals, where hydric wet soil conditions are normally exhibited, and where water depths generally do not exceed 2 meters (about 6 1/2 feet). Marshes, shallows, swamps, muskegs, lake bogs, and wet meadows are examples of wetlands.

Wild free-roaming horses and burros:

All unbranded and unclaimed horses and burros using public lands as all or part of their habitat.

Wilderness:

An area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvement or human habitation, that is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and that (1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least 5,000 acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.

Winter sports:

Includes ice skating, skiing (downhill and cross-country), snowshoeing, sledding, snowmobiling, and tobogganing as well as activities such as snow sculpture and general snow play.

Withdrawal:

An action that restricts the disposition of public lands and that holds them for specific public purposes; also, public lands that have been dedicated to public purposes. (See also Reserved lands and Revocation.)

Woodlands:

Forest lands usually supporting open-grown, widely scattered trees of marginal merchantability and generally more valuable for watershed or wildlife protection purposes than for the production of timber for commercial purposes.