<P> Ultimately, however, it turned out that much land west of the Missouri River was not ecologically suited for homesteading because of mountainous terrain, poor soils, lack of available water and other ecological barriers to significant settlement . By the early 20th century, the federal government held significant portions of most western states that had simply not been claimed for any use . Conservationists prevailed upon President Theodore Roosevelt to set aside lands for forest conservation and for special scientific or natural history interest . Much land still remained unclaimed even after such reserves were initially set up . The Department of the Interior held millions of acres in the western states (with Arizona and New Mexico joining the union by 1913). President Hoover proposed to deed the surface rights to the unappropriated lands to the states in 1932, but the states complained that the lands had been overgrazed and would, in other ways, impose a burden on Great Depression - era cash - strapped state budgets . The Bureau of Land Management was created to manage much of that land . </P> <P> Various bills intended to transfer federal public lands to western states had been proposed after 1932, all failing to garner much attention, let alone action . Among key objections to such transfers were the increasing value to the federal treasury of mineral lease receipts and complaints that the "crown jewels" of the national lands holdings, the National Parks, could not be managed adequately or fairly by individual states . Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks were considered to be national treasures, and few legislators would concur with turning them over to the states . </P> <P> The spark that turned these complaints into a "rebellion" was the enactment in 1976 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) that ended homesteading, which meant that the federal government would retain control of western public lands . The act sought to establish a system of land management by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). While FLPMA required the BLM to plan land use accommodating all users, specifically naming ranching, grazing, and mining, it also introduced formal processes to consider preservation of the land from those uses . </P> <P> Newly elected Senator Orrin Hatch (R - Utah) joined in land transfer legislation efforts in 1977, after loud complaints from ranchers and oilmen from Utah, coupled with strong support from several Utah county governments . By late 1979, Hatch was the one legislator most interested in land transfers . He sought to introduce a transfer bill that would get hearings and potential action . Upon advice of members of the Utah Wilderness Commission, appointed by Utah Governor Scott Matheson, Hatch agreed to leave National Parks and National Monuments in federal hands, and he drafted a bill that would allow states to apply for control over selected parcels . With 16 cosponsors, he introduced the bill in 1979, and again in 1981 . Partly because Hatch's bill dealt with major objections to previous bills, news outlets for the first time covered the bill as if it had a serious chance of passing . This started a two - year newspaper, radio, and television fight for the legislation . </P>

Federal land policy and management act and sagebrush rebellion