US Government Debt Different - Finance Department - University of ...

164Burning the Furniture to Heat the House – The Potential Role of Asset Sales in Funding the Federal Government’s Deficitsfor land and $479 billion for minerals, and implied that the marketvalue of the Federal Government’s land and mineral rights could beconsiderably higher. 20Figure 6: Resource Estimates of U.S. Areas Currently Off LimitsSource: Wood MackenzieAlaskan land alone could yield between $500 billion and $1.5 trillion.The US government owns over 240 million acres of land in thestate, representing 37 percent of all Federal land holdings. Muchof it is along the coast, including parkland and fishing grounds. Assumingthat recent OMB estimates of US government land valuesare on the mark and that all Federal parcels across the country areequally valuable, selling that land could raise $171 billion. However,revenues from timber, fishing, and tourism, among other industries,20 OMB concedes that the estimates for land and mineral rights in the President’sBudget do not reflect market values. Id. at 492.