“But they weren’t supposed to “own” it forever. They were supposed to cede it back to the states at some point.”
They can’t cede it back to the individual state if the individual state didn’t have it to start with.
Where does it say they were supposed to?
I’ve read the laws in that connection. Maybe marsh2 knows.
You apparently like Gargantuan Uber-controlling fedgov. I do not. I live in a county of which more than 70% is federally owned, and it has extremely high unemployment and poverty. If the lands were state and county owned, we would be a productive and prosperous county.