Who owns the West (and half of Arizona)?

[Source: Strange Maps] — The United States government has direct ownership of almost 650 million acres of land (2.63 million square kilometers) — nearly 30% of its total territory.  These federal lands are used as military bases or testing grounds, nature parks and preserves, and indian reservations, or are leased to the private sector for commercial exploitation (e.g. forestry, mining, agriculture).  They are managed by different administrations, such as the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S Bureau of Reclamation, or the Tennessee Valley Authority.

This map details the percentage of state territory owned by the federal government.  The top 10 list of states with the highest percentage of federally owned land looks like this:

1. Nevada 84.5%
2. Alaska 69.1%
3. Utah 57.4%
4. Oregon 53.1%
5. Idaho 50.2%
6. Arizona 48.1%
7. California 45.3%
8. Wyoming 42.3%
9. New Mexico 41.8%
10. Colorado 36.6%

[Note: To read the full blog entry, click here.]