Nebraska federal land sales possible under revised BLM Plan

VALENTINE, Neb. - Public land in Nebraska could soon be up for sale through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In Nebraska, BLM oversees around 5,100 acres of public land.

"It's mostly in the western two-thirds of Nebraska," said BLM Field Manager Chad Krause.

The land has been with the federal agency since the Homestead era, but many of the small parcels could soon be up for sale.

"They're mostly 40 acre, 80 acre parcels," said Krause.

The agency held a public meeting in Valentine to explain how its revising its Nebraska land use plan, which identifies land that could be sold.

“We recognize that the BLM ownership pattern in Nebraska isn’t particularly manageable, nor is there a tremendous amount of public value to it given that most of it isn’t accessible to the public without adjacent landowner permission,” said Krause.

The new plan could identify nearly all BLM land in Nebraska as sellable, aside from around 300 acres in the far northwest corner of the state.

“That's where we know that there were Native American tribes that broke out of Fort Robinson and passed through that area, so there’s some significance to that,” said Krause.

However, BLM wants to know if there's a need to keep the other land federally-owned. That's why the agency is holding events like this to get the public’s input.

“If there is the most important piece of public land in Nebraska that’s important to the public that they like to use, we would love to hear about it,” said Krause.

The public comment period for the plan ends Feb. 13. You can voice your opinion through the BLM website, as well as view a map of the land.