U.S.-Capitol.jpg House OKs bill to let Salt Lake cemetery sell land

"The U.S. House has approved a bill resolving an issue that kept Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City from selling about 60 acres of its property to a school.

The cemetery wanted to sell the property to raise money and Salt Lake City agreed to zone the land so soccer fields could be built on it.

Congress founded the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in 1847 and later exchanged federal land with the cemetery subject to a clause saying that if the land were ever used for anything but a cemetery, its ownership would revert to the federal government."

Why does the government own land that is not being used for courts and police in the first place?