Interior Plans to Target Federal Land to Address Housing Crisis

The Interior Department is considering transferring or leasing federal lands to states or local governments to build new homes and help resolve the housing crisis, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.

The Interior Department said it will team up with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a task force to study how federal land can be used for housing.

Burgum and HUD Secretary Scott Turner made the announcement Sunday in a Wall Street Journal op/ed.

The Interior Department manages more than 500 million acres of federal land, “much of it suitable for residential use,” Burgum and Turner said. ...