We Were Surprised to Learn: This Is Arizona’s Largest Landowner!

If you’ve ever driven across America, you know there’s nothing quite like Arizona’s expansive sky and open land. In some places, it seems to stretch for miles in every direction.

I sometimes forget just how much wide-open space we have in this country, but in Arizona, we still have long stretches of it.

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

Who Owns the Most Land in Arizona?

I was driving along I-10 recently. Between Tucson and Phoenix, I passed fields of cotton and alfalfa, then wide-open, empty patches of land. I began to wonder: who actually owns all this land?

Land ownership in Arizona is a patchwork of public and private hands. When it comes to public land, the federal government is by far the biggest landowner.

READ MORE: 3 Things Arizona is Doing Right Now

In fact, Arizona is ranked 8th in the country for federally owned land, with Uncle Sam managing over 30 million acres. That’s almost 43% of the whole state! Most of the land is made up of our famous national parks and monuments, you know, like the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, Canyon de Chelly, and so many more.

Coming in second is the Arizona State Land Department, which manages about 9.2 million acres.

READ: Growing Concern Over Arizona's Expanding Measles Outbreak

Get our free mobile app

Who is the Largest Private Landowner in Arizona?

As for private land, Babbitt Ranches is the largest private landholder in Arizona. This family-run operation has been part of Arizona’s ranching scene since 1884 and owns a whopping 750,000 acres.

So, thanks to a mix of federal, state, and private landowners, Arizona’s open spaces and natural beauty are here to stay. That’s great news, because that means there’s plenty of room for all of us to explore.

No matter how things change behind the scenes, let’s hope Arizona keeps its wild, open spaces thriving for generations to come.