Who owns the West?

Common wisdom has it that the West is owned mostly by the Federal Government in one or another of its forms. While this is true for the most part western land ownership teams who traverse the state borders will find that a surprising amount of that land is in private hands. Contacting owners for permission to cross private land is a tenet of the Borderlands Project. That means in many cases finding out what land specifically is public and what is private. It also means finding out who those owners are.

The United States Geological Survey publishes what are called Surface Management Status maps in 1:100,000-scale topographic versions that show land ownership (maps). This link is the best search-able site on their website. Click on the state then type in Surface management status.

When teams need to drill down further for specific owners and property divisions, they will need to contact the county assessor's office for the county along the border they are traversing.