What are 'the public lands'?

the long version

Provides a brief overview of the history and status of public lands, as well as the Bureau of Land Management's role in managing public lands. For the purpose of this bulletin, public lands are defined as chiefly that part of the original public lands of the United States still under Federal ownership which has not been set aside for uses such as national forests and parks. Larger than all other Federal lands combined, they cover some 452.6 million acres--about one-fifth the land area of the United States.