Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act Restrictions and ...

Most BLM States Have
Planned FLTFA Sales
through 2010, but BLM
Lacks National Goals for
the Program
BLM Plans FLTFA Sales
through 2010
away, as a challenge because the sunset date may not allow enough time
to complete many more sales. Other offices said the MOU provision
requiring a portion of the land sale proceeds to be used by the three other
agencies reduces BLM’s incentive to do land sales because BLM keeps
only 60 percent of the revenue. Another challenge to the disposal of land
under FLTFA, especially in Nevada, has been the passage of land bills for
Lincoln and White Pine counties. 17 The Lincoln County Land Act of 2000,
as amended, directs BLM to deposit most of the proceeds from the
disposal of not more than 103,328 acres into an account established by the
act. The White Pine County Conservation, Recreation, and Development
Act of 2006 directs BLM to deposit most of the proceeds from the disposal
of not more than 45,000 acres into a similar account. In total, BLM staff
estimate that, once mandated land use plan amendments are completed,
the two acts will result in the removal of about 148,000 acres from FLTFA
eligibility.
Land use planning. Some offices cited problems with the land use plans.
For example, the Idaho Falls District Office staff said that specific land for
sale is hard to identify in old land use plans. Nevada’s Elko Field Office
staff said that some lands that could be offered for sale were not available
because they were not designated in the land use plan at the time of
FLTFA’s enactment.
BLM state offices reported planning FLTFA sales through 2010, but BLM
has not established national goals for FLTFA or emphasized sales.
In response to our request to the 10 BLM state offices participating in
FLTFA, 8 reported planning 96 FLTFA sales totaling 25,406 acres through
2010. The other two state offices reported no planned sales. Of the 96
planned sales, 34 are planned as competitive, 6 as modified competitive,
and 52 as direct sales; the sales methods for 4 sales are unknown. The
BLM state offices did not report a fair market value for some of these
planned sales. Table 3 provides information on planned FLTFA sales and
17 Pub. L. 106-298: Lincoln County Land Act Of 2000, as amended by Pub. L. 108-424 (2004)
and Pub. L. 109-432, Title III, White Pine County Conservation, Recreation, and
Development Act of 2006.
Page 20 GAO-08-196 Federal Land Management