Land Grant Colleges Act of 1862

Land Grant Colleges (Act of 1862)

October 1, 2022

Penn State is a Land Grant College

Land Grant Colleges are the authority for resolving environmental problems in the region they are located. As the go to resource for agricultural, invasive insect or plants, and tree or plant disease, these colleges have extensive knowledge developed over years of hard work stewarding the environment, developing hybridized cultivars to gain disease resistance and better weather climate change, or solving problems through research and development of best practices for natural resource sustainability and the remediation of the numerous problematic issues in and around agricultural and environmental sciences.

Under Lincoln's Presidency, Senator Morrill of Vermont proposed a bill which created a structure of Agriculture based colleges. Each state has at least one of these colleges. He first presented the idea while serving in the House of Representatives. The premise was to set aside federal lands to create colleges to “benefit the agricultural and mechanical arts.”

The Morrill Land-Grant Acts of 1862

The Morrill Land-Grant Acts of 1862 are United States statues that used federal land to create these truly beneficial agricultural resources that have helped everything from food production yields to the survival of whole habitats helping preserve the land from drought, disease, or lack of sustainable practices usually encouraged through regulation.

Note:

Below are links to each Land Grant College. Some have additional links to their "Extension" Resources to highlight that can help Steward your communities' Natural Habitats. Land Grant Colleges have a mission, to “benefit the agricultural and mechanical arts.” in some colleges this mission allow Extension Classes and resources that help anything from access to Asking an Expert for help with an ecological problem to identifying invasive insects and plants with advice on how to manage that problem. These resources are mutually beneficial. When a land owner, nonprofit, or concerned citizen expresses an interest in helping solve environmental problems this community will support them sharing their knowledge and resources inevitably helping our Natural Habitats sustain to constant barrage of invasive plants and insects, plant diseases, and pollution. When we work together to solve problems in our communities it provides others with a sense of competency in managing our Forests, Creeks, Streams, Rivers, lakes, helping our wildlife and Aquatic life not only survive but thrive. When you see a problem in your local Forest or Waterway or on you private property reach out to your local College Extension community, do not hesitate, they will be happy to help you with your problem.

Hatch Act 1887

The hatch act enabled the land grant college structure to also be used as technological hubs. Texas A&M stood for Agricultural and Mechanical. The M was enabled by the Hatch Act. It also establish a network of agricultural experiment stations.

Smith-Lever Act of 1914 - adds public outreach to land grant structure

The Smith Lever act prompted land grant colleges to provide the research based science developed by the institutions to the public. Through stewardship educational programs the land grant college structure teaches citizen scientists through their county based programs usually developed around a particular problems in your county/community.

Land Grant Colleges Act of 1862