Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA, 1976)

1) Link to the Text of the Act
Read the statute (43 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq.)

2) Why It Was Done
FLPMA was enacted to establish a comprehensive framework for managing U.S. public lands, primarily under the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It ended the policy of land disposal and declared that public lands would generally remain in federal ownership.

3) Pre-existing Law or Constitutional Rights
Before FLPMA, land management was guided by a patchwork of 19th- and early 20th-century laws focused on land disposal (Homestead Act, Mining Act, etc.). FLPMA consolidated and modernized federal land policy.