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What Land is Available
Land available for acquisition can be divided into three categories: land owned by the Federal government, a State government, or a private party (including both corporations and individuals).

Federal
Within the Federal government are several bureaus and agencies charged with the duties of land management, including acquisition and disposal. In 2004, Executive Order 13327 was signed, creating the Federal Real Property Counsel, a body designed to normalize real property reporting and management across the Federal government. Excluded from Executive Order 13327 were public domain land, land reserved for national forests, parks, and wildlife refuges, and land held in trust for Indians. Each of these categories, consequently, must be addressed in reference to its specific statutory authorization and subsequent regulatory framework.

Prior to addressing the independent disposal authorities for each land holding agency, the single most important fact of which to be aware is that federal agencies are first in line to acquire land from other federal agencies that have reported excess real property holdings. For detailed information on trans-agency land disposal, visit the GSA's Federal Management Regulation, Subchapter C, addressing real property. This information will eventually be summarized and elucidated on this site.

Department of Agriculture

 * United States Forest Service

Department of the Interior
Four agencies within the Department of the Interior administer or manage the substantial acreage of Federal lands.


 * United States Fish and Wildlife Service
 * National Park Service
 * Bureau of Land Management
 * Bureau of Indian Affairs

A fifth agency, the Bureau of Reclamation, oversees water resource management and thereby plays a vital role in land use planning and land management in the Western states.

GSA
The Office of Property Disposal, part of the Public Building Service (PBS) of the U.S. General Services Administration, handles conveyances of surplus federal real property. The Office of Property Disposal has published a Guide to Buying Federal Real Estate. In addition to outright purchases, laws exist allowing real property transfers to public agencies or institutions at up to a 100 percent discount when used for specific purposes. These laws are itemized on the website as well as summarized in a brochure, Acquiring Federal Real Estate for Public Uses. The Office of Property Disposal's Customer Resource Center houses a comprehensive overview of policies, procedures, and properties.

The GSA Public Building Service outlines a three step process for acquiring federal real estate:


 * 1) Find available real estate - Information on current and upcoming sales is available at http://www.propertydisposal.gsa.gov. Additional properties can be found at http://www.govsales.gov, the official site to buy government property from the several Federal agencies.
 * 2) Obtain an invitation to bid - An Invitation for Bid (IFB) is required to bid on a property. An IFB package is available from http://www.propertydisposal.gsa.gov and will generally include information on the location of the property, a property description, maps, pictures, zoning and land use regulations, environmental conditions, general terms of the sale, directions to the property, and inspection guidelines.
 * 3) Bidding - Three methods are commonly used to effectuate public sales: online auctions, public auctions, and sealed bids. Properties available for online auction are advertised at http://www.auctionrp.com and http://www.govsales.gov.  The IFB package for a specific property will outline the relevant bidding process for that property.

Also published by the GSA Public Building Service is a Customer Guide to Real Property Disposal. Aimed at internal (government) customers, the Guide provides a comprehensive overview of federal real property disposal. The Guide is a topically organized FAQ the answers to which often include citations, web links, and additional references.

Federal Real Property Council

The Federal Real Property Council was created by Executive Order 13327 "in order to promote the efficient and economical use of Federal real property resources."

This efficiency is to be derived from the establishment of
 * A Senior Real Property Officer in each landholding agency, charged with the duty to create an asset management plan for that agency;
 * An interagency body, the FRPC; and,
 * A "single, comprehensive, and descriptive database of all real property under the custody and control of all executive branch agencies, except when otherwise required for reasons of national security [the FRPP]."

While the Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP) is available only to government employees summary reports of including data on the federal government's real property assets are published every year and are available online at the GSA's FRPP Summary Report Library.