ECON 2200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Desert Land Act, Land Development, Robert Fogel
14 May 2018
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Department
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ECON 2200
Lecture 25
• The Timber-Culture Act of 1863
o Passed to encourage the growth of timber in arid regions. This
law made available 160 acres of free land to anyone who would
agree to plant trees on 40 acres of it.
• The Desert Land Act of 1877
o By the terms of this law, 640 acres at $1.25 an acres could be
purchased by anyone who would agree to irrigate the land
within three years. One serious defect of this act was its lack of
a clear definition of irrigation.
• The Timber and Stone Act of 1878
o This statute provided for the sale at $2.50 and acres of valuable
timber and stone lands in Nevada, California, Oregon, and
Washington.
• The Timber-Cutting Act of 1878
o This law authorized residents of certain specified areas to cut
trees on government lands without charge, with the stipulation
that the timber be used for agricultural, mining, and domestic
building purposes.
• Until the 1970s, most American historians thought that federal land
policy was inefficient and reduced total output. Still it is known that
there were errors made and inefficiencies, but it is difficult to make
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