United States Bureau of Land Management Energy and Minerals Technical Assistance Program

Introduction

United States Land ownership rights and privileges, for both individuals and the public, are largely derived from the land tenure traditions of England, France and Spain. As such, there is a consistent linkage between land tenure rights and other rights of each person as individuals and as a members of citizen groups. This brief tutorial will not dwell on the historical evolution of these rights, but encourages site visitors with an interest in indepth inquiry regarding land tenure rights in theory and practice to pursue certain readings devoted to that topic. Through time we will continue to add references to this tutorial on that subject.

Thus, this tutorial will be a rather terse statement of what land tenure rights in the United States are, with very little reference to how they evolved to that state. This may prove to be unsatisfactory to some visitors to this site, as it is valid to observe that many nations are currently involved in institutional changes that will impact land tenure through time. Thus, the journey to a certain set of land tenure objectives may be as critical as the actual objectives themselves. In this regard, as in all other matters at this site, we will provide a number of vehicles for all visitors to communicate to us regarding their thoughts, suggestions and expressions of further need and assistance.