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As members of Congress return to their districts and states to campaign on how to make life more affordable, they should look at a resource right under their feet: all the land that the federal government owns, which is more than a quarter of the country. Returning that land to the states and the American people to create material abundance would be part of the solution to improve affordability.

These lands under federal management contain abundant natural resources, including 29 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and 392 trillion cubic feet of gas. Returning this land to the states to manage could help bring more energy to the market, easing the cost of commuting, transporting goods, and keeping homes air conditioned and lit.

Selling or transferring just part of the 640 million acres of land, which includes 46% of the western United States, would also open more room for homes. The Bureau of Land Management recently sold about 940 acres of federal land to Las Vegas, which is in a state where the federal government owns 80% of the land. These acres will hold thousands of homes and alleviate pressure in a housing market where the city’s prices have increased by over 40% since 2020.

Congress should keep this positive momentum going. Here’s how: require the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to transfer at least 1 of every 200 acres they manage each year to the states and American people, as called for in Advancing American Freedom’s Affordability 101 report. This simple policy would require the federal government to continually look for opportunities to transfer the management of land to state governments and their citizens who will use it to improve their economies.

Congress should also pass the “No Net Gain in Federal Lands Act” (H.R. 775), which requires that “the number of acres of land, water, and interests…acquired by the United States…in a State during a fiscal year may not exceed the number of acres of Federal land…disposed of in that State during that fiscal year.” This bill would prevent the federal government from expanding its vast holdings so that Americans have ample land to create material abundance for the country.

The American people take great pride in maintaining their property. Transferring federal government land would restore a sense stewardship among the American people. The federal government has done this before.

The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed Americans to claim up to 160 acres of government land, after living on it for five years. In all, 270 million acres were transferred to Americans who worked hard on their property to bring prosperity for their families and communities.

But in 1976, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act established a national policy of retaining most federal lands. With so much land hoarded by the federal government, one presidential administration like Joe Biden’s could lock up vast amounts of land, blocking economic activity that could bring jobs and prosperity for Americans. Transferring landownership to the tens of millions of Americans would reduce the amount of land vulnerable to a single anti-growth federal decision while giving states and individuals the opportunity to put their property to productive use.

Congress does not need a complicated solution to make life more affordable. It simply needs to let go of some of the land that is sitting in plain sight.

Original article