Land claims in the United States

Land claims in the United States
Name	Land claims in the United States
Caption	Historic land survey marker and claim monument
Location	United States
Established	Colonial era to present

Land claims in the United States describe competing assertions of title, possession, or use over parcels, resources, and territories arising from colonial charters, treaties, statutes, and judicial decisions. Claims have involved actors such as the Thirteen Colonies, United States Congress, Supreme Court of the United States, Bureau of Land Management, and sovereign tribes, and have produced doctrines like adverse possession and doctrines reflected in landmark cases such as Johnson v. M'Intosh and Kleppe v. New Mexico. The subject intersects with statutes including the Homestead Act of 1862, instruments such as the Northwest Ordinance, and disputes adjudicated in forums from county recorders to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Historical origins

Colonial grants from sovereigns including Charter of Virginia, Royal Proclamation of 1763, and Massachusetts Bay Colony charters set early patterns later litigated before the Supreme Court of the United States and debated in the Continental Congress and Confederation Congress. Competing claims among Spain, France, Britain, and later Mexico produced instruments such as the Treaty of Paris (1783), Adams–Onís Treaty, and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that transferred land and provoked litigation exemplified in cases like Marbury v. Madison-era controversies and territorial organizing by the Northwest Territory and Louisiana Purchase. Colonial land companies like the Plymouth Company and Virginia Company of London created early conveyancing disputes resolved by colonial courts and later federal jurisprudence.

Homestead and settlement laws

Federal statutes such as the Homestead Act of 1862, Dawes Act, and Timber and Stone Act structured settler claims, along with implementing agencies like the General Land Office and later the Bureau of Land Management. Settlement incentives tied to the Transcontinental Railroad and land grants to corporations like the Central Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad generated conveyance claims and litigation culminating in disputes before the United States Court of Claims and Supreme Court of the United States. Settler doctrines including squatters' rights and adverse possession intersected with state statutes such as California Land Act of 1851 and territorial laws in places like Oregon Country and the Territory of New Mexico.

Indigenous land claims and treaties

Indigenous title controversies involve treaties such as the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851), Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), Treaty of Canandaigua, and litigation in cases including Johnson v. M'Intosh, Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida, United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, and Bryan v. Itasca County. Institutions such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, indigenous plaintiffs including the Cherokee Nation, Navajo Nation, Lakota people, and Oneida Indian Nation, and statutes like the Indian Reorganization Act and Indian Claims Commission Act shaped remedies. Land cessions under accords like the Treaty of New Echota and disputes over reservations and allotments under the General Allotment Act created long-running adjudications in the United States Court of Federal Claims and appellate review by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Land claims by veterans and veterans' benefits

Veteran-related claims trace to laws such as the Homestead Act of 1862 revisions, the Southern Homestead Act, and benefits statutes after wars like the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Gulf War. Agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs and administrative boards like the Bureau of Land Management and General Land Office administered entitlements and grants tied to service, while legislative measures such as the Soldier's and Sailor's Civil Relief Act and specific Congressional land grants influenced allotments. Claims by veterans often intersected with veterans' organizations such as the Grand Army of the Republic and later groups in disputes over land patents, property compensation, and benefits adjudicated in federal courts and administrative tribunals.

Mining, water and resource-based claims

Resource extraction doctrines were shaped by statutes like the Mining Law of 1872, riparian law influences from jurisdictions including California and Arizona, and water rights doctrines such as prior appropriation in Colorado and the doctrine of reasonable use in New York. Mining claims involved instruments and regimes administered by the General Land Office and Bureau of Land Management and produced litigation involving corporations like Anaconda Copper, companies in the Klondike Gold Rush, and federal entities such as the United States Geological Survey. Water disputes involved interstate compacts like the Colorado River Compact, cases such as Arizona v. California, and federal agencies including the Bureau of Reclamation. Conservation conflicts engaged actors such as the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, and laws like the National Environmental Policy Act.

Legal processes and litigation

Adjudication of land claims proceeds through recording systems like county land registration and markets shaped by instruments including deeds, patents, and quiet title actions heard in state courts, the United States District Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Federal Circuit. Key precedents from the Supreme Court of the United States—including Johnson v. M'Intosh, Kleppe v. New Mexico, and Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida—established doctrines for sovereign title, federal preemption, and remedies. Statutory schemes such as the Quiet Title Act and administrative appeals to bodies like the Interior Board of Land Appeals and the National Indian Gaming Commission shape outcomes, while alternative dispute resolution and land use planning involve entities like municipal planning commissions and regional land banks.

Contemporary disputes and policy reforms

Modern controversies involve federal land management in the American West, high-profile standoffs such as those involving the Bundy family and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, tribal restoration claims by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and environmental litigation involving the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, and federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Bureau of Land Management. Legislative reforms debated in the United States Congress and policy shifts under administrations including the Clinton administration, Bush administration, Obama administration, and Trump administration address conservation, energy development, and sovereign restitution through instruments like the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Ongoing litigation in venues such as the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and settlement negotiations mediated by entities like the Department of the Interior continue to redefine property, resource allocation, and restitution.

Category:Property law of the United States