# The Acre In, Acre Out Act: What It Means

This bill creates a simple rule: whenever the federal government buys new land to add to national parks, national forests, wildlife refuges, or other public lands managed by the Interior or Agriculture departments, it must sell off an equal amount of federal land somewhere else. Think of it like a seesaw—for every acre the government adds, it has to remove an acre. The goal is to keep the total amount of federal land the same size, preventing what supporters see as endless government land acquisition.

There are a couple of exceptions to this rule. The government can still acquire easements (basically the right to use someone's land for specific purposes like maintaining trails or protecting wildlife corridors) without having to sell land in return, as long as these easements help manage the lands the government already owns. So if a national forest needs an easement to protect a water source or manage a fire break, that wouldn't trigger the requirement to sell other land.

When the government does sell land under this bill, it has to start at fair market value based on what similar land in the area is selling for. But here's where it gets interesting: if the land doesn't sell within six months, the price drops by 10 percent each month until someone buys it. This creates pressure to move the land quickly—after a year, the price would be half of what it started at. Any money made from these sales goes directly to paying down the national debt rather than funding other programs.

The practical effect of this bill would be to slow or stop the expansion of public lands. Supporters argue this prevents government overreach and keeps more land in private or state hands. Critics worry it could prevent important conservation efforts, like protecting endangered species habitats or connecting fragmented wilderness areas, because the government would always have to find land to sell first.

Acre In, Acre Out Act

Griffith, H. Morgan

Acre In, Acre Out Act This bill prescribes a new requirement for any acquisition of land by the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture that would result in a net increase of total land acreage under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, or the Forest Service. The department concerned must offer for sale an equal number of acres of federal land that is under the same jurisdictional status. The bill exempts from this requirement any easements acquired to facilitate management of federal lands. Land sold pursuant to this bill shall be offered for sale at fair market value (based on local comparable sales), with monthly price reductions if the land is not sold in six months. All net proceeds from the sale of federal lands pursuant to this bill shall be deposited directly into the Treasury for reduction of the public debt.