• The largest landowner in the state oversees more than thirty million acres of land
• The largest private landowner has a considerable stake in maintaining our wide-open swaths of land
• The largest private landowner maintains about 750 thousand acres

A few years ago I traveled back to the Midwest for a conference. I spent about a week in Chicago, wending my way through city streets and towering skyscrapers. Spending time in the Windy City made me appreciate the beauty and vast swaths of wide-open space in Arizona.

Just leaving Sky Harbor Airport, I was greeted with a breathtaking vista I had taken for granted.

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Who Owns the Most Land in Arizona?

Traveling along Interstate 10 on my way home, I began thinking about all the open land in our state. Miles of cotton, alfalfa, and other crops grow here, not to mention all the state and federally-managed land and parks.

I started to wonder: Who owns all this land?

Land ownership in Arizona is a tapestry of public and private holdings. I wasn't really surprised to learn that, as far as public lands go, the largest landowner in Arizona is the federal government.

According to Stacker, Arizona ranks 8th for the most federally owned land in the United States. The federal government oversees 30,741,287 acres, accounting for 42.9% of Arizona’s land. Most of this land is dedicated to national parks and monuments, like the Grand Canyon.

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The Arizona State Land Department comes in second, managing approximately 9.2 million acres, which benefits public schools, according to NCESC.com.

READ: Who Pays If You Hit a Cow in Arizona?

Who is the Largest Private Landowner in Arizona?

Babbitt Ranches is Arizona's largest non-government landowner and the state's largest private landowner, with 750,000 acres under its banner. Family-owned Babbitt Ranches has been a fixture in the state's ranching industry since 1884.

The mix of federal, state, and private land ownership in Arizona helps preserve the vast openness of our state while protecting resources.

[A-Z Animals.com | BLM.gov | Stacker.com | NCESC.com | WorldPopulationReview.com | BabbittRanches.com]