Our Common Ground: A History of America's Public Lands
Our Common Ground: A History of America's Public Lands
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Abstract
This book is about the little-known story of how the U.S. government came to hold nearly one-third of the nation's land and manage it primarily for recreation, education, and conservation. America's public lands includes more than 600 million acres of forests, plains, mountains, wetlands, deserts, and shorelines. The book discusses the key political decisions that led to this, beginning at the very founding of the nation. The book traces the emergence of a bipartisan political consensus in favor of the national government holding these vast land areas primarily for recreation, education, and conservation of biodiversity and cultural resources. That consensus remains strong and continues to shape American identity. Such a success story of the political system is a bright spot in an era of cynicism about government. The book is essential reading for anyone who cares about public lands, and it is particularly timely as the world grapples with the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.
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Front Matter
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Part One Public Lands in the Formative Era, 1776–1789
John D. Leshy -
Part Two The Public Lands and Nation Building, 1790–1861
John D. Leshy -
Part Three Plunder and Backlash Feed a Movement for Reserves, 1862–1889
John D. Leshy-
Nine
New Divestment Policies Sow Seeds of a Backlash
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Ten
More Giveaways Sow More Seeds of Discontent
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Eleven
Protecting Public Lands for Inspiration: yosemite and yellowstone
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Twelve
Pillaging Public Lands for Wood, Grass, and Minerals
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Thirteen
Efforts Launched to Protect Public Forest Land
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Fourteen
Moving Beyond “Paper Parks”
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Fifteen
Wildlife Protection Enters the Policy Universe
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Sixteen
The Campaign for Forest Reservations Gains Momentum
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Seventeen
Congress Closes In on Major Reforms
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Nine
New Divestment Policies Sow Seeds of a Backlash
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Part Four The Great Transition, Phase One, 1890–1901
John D. Leshy-
Eighteen
Congress Guts Powell’s Irrigation Survey and Establishes New National Parks
- Nineteen Congress Gives the President Broad Authority to Reserve Public Lands
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Twenty
The First Forest Reserves
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Twenty-One
The General Land Office Struggles and Cleveland Spurs Congress into Action
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Twenty-Two
An Organic Act for the Forest Reserves
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Twenty-Three
Parks, Forests, and Public Land Policy in the McKinley Administration
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Twenty-Four
National Authority over Public Lands Expanded and Confirmed
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Eighteen
Congress Guts Powell’s Irrigation Survey and Establishes New National Parks
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Part Five The Great Transition, Phase Two, 1902–1913
John D. Leshy-
Twenty-Five
Theodore Roosevelt, Public Lands, and the Reclamation Act
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Twenty-Six
Forest Reserves Expand in Roosevelt’s First Term
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Twenty-Seven
The Forest Service Takes Control of the Forest Reserves
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Twenty-Eight
Roosevelt and Congress Use Public Lands to Protect Wildlife Habitat
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Twenty-Nine
Public Lands, Science, and History: the antiquities act
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Thirty
Roosevelt and National Parks
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Thirty-One
Making New Forest Reserves: Congress Challenges the President
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Thirty-Two
Roosevelt, Public Lands, and Energy Development
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Thirty-Three
Public Lands in the Handoff from Roosevelt to Taft
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Thirty-Four
Taft’s Undervalued Record on Public Land Conservation
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Thirty-Five
National Forests Become National with Enactment of the Weeks Act
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Thirty-Six
Public Lands at the End of the Age of Theodore Roosevelt
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Twenty-Five
Theodore Roosevelt, Public Lands, and the Reclamation Act
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Part Six Public Land Policy Between the Roosevelts, 1913–1933
John D. Leshy-
Thirty-Seven
National Parks Take Center Stage
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Thirty-Eight
The National Park System’s Early Years
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Thirty-Nine
The National Forest System Matures and Evolves
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Forty
The Forest and Park Services Compete and Cooperate
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Forty-One
Ranchers, Homesteaders, and Energy Developers Compete for Primacy
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Forty-Two
The End of the Progressive Era
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Forty-Three
Debating the Future of Unreserved Public Lands
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Forty-Four
Wildlife Protection Gains Prominence
- Forty-Five Public Lands and Multipurpose Water Development
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Thirty-Seven
National Parks Take Center Stage
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Part Seven Filling in the Gaps in Public Land Policy, 1933–1960
John D. Leshy-
Forty-Six
The Taylor Grazing Act
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Forty-Seven
National Parks in the New Deal
- Forty-Eight A System of Wildlife Refuges Begins to Emerge
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Forty-Nine
Other New Deal Public Land Policies
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Fifty
Grazing and Logging the Public Lands in the Postwar Era
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Fifty-One
Mineral Policy Developments Onshore and Offshore
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Forty-Six
The Taylor Grazing Act
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Part Eight Public Lands in Modern Times, 1961–present
John D. Leshy-
Fifty-Two
The Wilderness Act Reshapes Public Land Policy
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Fifty-Three
New Labels and New Means of Protecting Public Values in Public Lands
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Fifty-Four
Making the Modern Bureau of Land Management
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Fifty-Five
Making the Modern Forest Service
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Fifty-Six
Charting the Future of Public Lands in Alaska
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Fifty-Seven
Making the Modern U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
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Fifty-Eight
Making the Modern National Park Service
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Fifty-Nine
Mineral and Energy Development in the Modern Era
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Sixty
Public Lands and Native Americans in the Modern Era
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Sixty-One
The Politics of Public Lands in the Modern Era: change or continuity?
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Sixty-Two
Public Lands Today
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Sixty-Three
Public Lands and the Future
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Fifty-Two
The Wilderness Act Reshapes Public Land Policy
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End Matter
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