Who owns west virginia

More than 14 million acres in West Virginia are not owned by the federal government, or 7. From to , the federal government's land ownership in West Virginia increased by 68, acres. The table below shows federal land ownership in West Virginia compared to its neighbor, Virginia , and a Western state, Utah , as a comparison.

More than 92 percent of federal land, or 1. Forest Service in West Virginia, compared to More than 22 million acres of land in Utah is owned by the U. There are six National Park Service units, one national forest, nine wilderness areas and one national recreation area in West Virginia. A study by the U. National Park Service found that 1. The table below lists the properties operated within the state park system.

Private mining companies, including oil and natural gas companies, can apply for leases from the U. The company seeking a lease must nominate the land for oil and gas exploration to the BLM, which evaluates and approves the lease.

The BLM state offices make leasing decisions based on their land use plans, which contain information on the land's resources and the potential environmental impact of oil or gas exploration. If federal lands are approved for leasing, the BLM requires information about how the company will conduct its drilling and production.

Afterward, the BLM will produce an environmental analysis and a list of requirements before work on the land can begin. The agency also inspects the companies' drilling and production on the leased lands. In , there were 47, active leases covering Of that total, leases 0. In , out of 3, new drilling leases approved nationwide by the BLM for oil and gas exploration, none were in West Virginia. Large energy and land-holding corporations bought up mineral-rich acres and held them until market conditions were favorable for mining, drilling or leasing.

Two separate investigations — one by reporter Tom Miller in and another by the Appalachian Land Ownership Task Force later that decade — found that vast acres, especially those in the southern coalfields, were controlled by a handful of mostly absentee corporations.

Read PDF of report. Read Executive Summary. Funded in part by the Appalachian Regional Commission, this group of paid researchers and volunteers collected and reviewed land deeds from 80 counties in Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. In , the group released its findings in a multi-volume 1,page report. Despite its significant findings, the report lead to no significant changes, in part because even the Appalachian Regional Commission distanced itself from it.

Photo of Highlands Property in Va. In , Dr. He concluded that these large corporate landholdings restricted access to land by individuals, increased the political influence of corporate landowners, and decreased civic engagement in those communities.

With many of the land-owning coal companies now declaring bankruptcy, Rouse is hopeful that some of this land might finally be available to benefit the community. He is now chairing a committee for the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, a coalfield community organization, that will re-examine the findings of his and other earlier studies.

Using property data, the study revealed that the concentration of land ownership in the state has actually declined during the past 30 years. The researchers also identified a new type of corporate entity that did not exist during the previous studies now plays a dominant role, namely the timber management companies that maintain forestland as financial assets.

While the companies owning the land may have changed ownership several times, the land rarely goes on the market. As a result, he notes, the property value cannot be based on a recent sale price. And because this land cannot be used for homes, the residential market nearby becomes more competitive and expensive.

It determined that the top 10 landowners hold The most recent available property records for Wyoming County uphold the findings of the study. According to Houck, Pocahontas Land Company has cooperated with his organization — a nonprofit community group working to bring opportunities to southern West Virginia — even leasing them several properties for agricultural and recreational purposes. But another large landowner, Western Pocahontas Properties, has been harder to work with.

Plum Creek is Georgia 's largest private landowner with a total of , acres in timberland. The largest landowner in Hawaii is the state of Hawaii, followed by the federal government. After that, Kamehameha Schools is the single largest landowner in Hawaii with , acres. The Holding Family is the largest landowner in Idaho, with over , acres. Tom Farms, owned by Tom Kip, is the largest private landowner in Indiana. Tom Farms owns 20, acres in Indiana and Brazil. Brad Kelley is the largest landowner in Kentucky and is also the seventh-largest private landowner in the United States, with a total of 1.

Irving is the largest landowner in Maine and is the only industrial landowner with over 1 million acres. Peter Buck, co-owner of Subway, owns about , acres of land, most of which is in Maine. Cowls, Inc. Plum Creek, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, is the largest private landowner in Michigan after purchasing , acres in The largest landowner in Mississippi is the Molpus Woodlands Group, which owns more than , acres of land. Ted Turner is the largest private landowner in Nebraska, owning about 2.

Paul Fireman is the largest landowner in Nevada, owning the Winecup Gamble ranch that encompasses , acres. John Malone owns the most land in New Hampshire and is also the largest private landowner in the United States. Ted Turner owns more than 2 million acres of land in the U.