American Land Stolen by... Americans

I move that, with revisions, the government of The United States of America should reinstate the Homestead Act of 1862, and that all government rights to ownership of land should be declared null and void. Here is why.
Ever since Yellowstone National Park was pushed into law by Theodore Roosevelt in 1872, the government has been grabbing more and more of the people's land, almost on a whim it seems. Executive orders and new legislation take more land from the people every day. Currently, the government of the United States of America owns almost 650,000,000 acres of land. That is nearly 30% of all the land in America. Land which the constitution gives the government no provision to control, or to keep from the people. Notably, most of this land is in the West - where the vast majority of America's greatest natural resources are. Of course the government officials who stole this land from the people had no intent to hinder the free market by taking away access to valuable resources, or to help drive America bankrupt. No. We all know that the government is completely clean of any intentional wrongdoing. I mean, it's not like there have been any recent major government scandals in which guns were given to Mexican drug lords, or in which Americans died, were spied upon, or were targeted for political beliefs.
Our government is better than that.
Right?
Wrong.
Basically, the government is putting 650,000,000 acres of the richest land in America to waste amidst the greatest financial crisis in the history of the United States. But that's all right because we're saving the wolves and the bears. After all, that's what's important.
Right?
No. The wolves and bears can go die in a hole. They don't matter.
This is where the Homestead Act of 1862 would be of great help - financially.
These were the original points of the law taken straight from the government archives. (That page can be found here.)
"With the secession of Southern states from the Union and therefore removal of the slavery issue, finally, in 1862, the Homestead Act was passed and signed into law. The new law established a three-fold homestead acquisition process: filing an application, improving the land, and filing for deed of title. Any U.S. citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. Government could file an application and lay claim to 160 acres of surveyed Government land. For the next 5 years, the homesteader had to live on the land and improve it by building a 12-by-14 dwelling and growing crops. After 5 years, the homesteader could file for his patent (or deed of title) by submitting proof of residency and the required improvements to a local land office.

Local land offices forwarded the paperwork to the General Land Office in Washington, DC, along with a final certificate of eligibility. The case file was examined, and valid claims were granted patent to the land free and clear, except for a small registration fee. Title could also be acquired after a 6-month residency and trivial improvements, provided the claimant paid the government $1.25 per acre. After the Civil War, Union soldiers could deduct the time they served from the residency requirements."

Isn't that wonderful? With some revisions, the government could use all of this land to help pay off the enormous debt that we have amassed. Here would be the revisions:

-"Intended Citizens" (We already have too many of those) would not be allowed to obtain land. Only people who are already citizens of the United States at the time of the filing of the claim.

-The dwelling would be specified to be at least 12 by 14 feet so that the previous loophole would be erased.

-The person improving the land wouldn't be restricted to farming it. As long as they improve it's value in some legitimate way, they can keep it.

-After all of the other terms and conditions are met, the person would pay $500 per acre of land and it would be theirs. ($500 is about 1/10 of the going rate for land right now.)

There would be many benefits to reinstating this act, with revisions, as law.

1.) It would help pay down the debt. If even only half of the 640,000,000 acres are farmable, minable, or drillable that would bring in $160,000,000,000 at $500/acre. That wouldn't put a huge dent in our massive debt, but it certainly wouldn't hurt.

2.) It would raise employment rates. Giving people land gives them opportunity. They can farm it, or mine it, or drill for oil and natural gas. This gives people a way to earn money for themselves, instead of collecting welfare from the government, thereby saving the government even more money.

3.) The resources pulled off of the land, (Grain, livestock, precious metals, oil, natural gas, etc.) would help bolster the economy, thereby also helping America pull out of debt. This would lower food and gas prices and make people more willing to spend money again as well. America would once again become the place where people come to buy resources, instead of the place where they come to sell them.

This plan is very reasonable. There are many benefits, and few downfalls, if any. Why don't we make it a reality? It's possible, you know. After all, the American people are the government's boss, even if most of the government acts as if the opposite is true.

We need help. Here is a solution. We would be fools to not act upon it.

God bless America.