In 2000 congress passed the "Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act." This act enables the federal government to buy private properties that carve into federal lands making them difficult to manage. Additionally, the law works in reverse fashion by also allowing the federal government to sell those federal lands so isolated by surrounding private land that those properties are of little value to the government. Although this act was passed in 2000, the government did not start making purchases until the fall of 2007, and has since then spent approximately $18 million to purchase close to 9,000 acres in seven states. This new spending spree poses many great opportunities for both the landowners wishing to sell out and the individual looking to acquire more land. (Read Full Story).