Still Made for You and Me?

IN HIS SUCCESSFUL 1980 CAMPAIGN for the White House, Ronald Reagan proclaimed himself a “sagebrush rebel,” indicating support for a movement spearheaded by some libertarians and livestock operators who sought to transfer ownership or, at least, effective control of most U.S. public lands to states or the private sector. Upon taking office, he appointed the pro-development firebrand James G. Watt as Interior secretary and for a brief period turned public land policy over to the libertarian wing of the Republican Party.

But the movement never attracted any support in the political mainstream, and as this became clear, President Reagan quickly retreated. Congress (including the Republican-controlled Senate) continued passing bills adding protections to millions of acres of public lands, and Reagan signed them into law. Indeed, by the time he left office, he had signed legislation putting more acres of public lands into the National Wilderness Preservation System, the most protective classification, than any president except Jimmy Carter.

The sagebrush rebellion ran up against the strong bipartisan consensus that had gradually taken hold after the Civil War and eventually produced today’s public lands—those more than 600 million acres, or nearly 30 percent of the U.S. landmass, that the nation holds and manages for broad public purposes.

While most people are familiar only with “crown jewels” like Yosemite and Yellowstone, the public lands encompass an astonishing array of landscapes, wildlife, and other resources, from the nation’s highest peaks to its lowest point, from Arctic tundra to coastal wetlands, from sites steeped in cultural and historic resources to vast open spaces offering quiet contemplation. These lands carry a confusing mix of labels: national park, forest, wildlife refuge, conservation area, recreation area, monument, wilderness, and others. Although concentrated in the West, they are found throughout the nation. In at least a dozen non-western states, for example, more than one of every 20 acres is public land. Each year, these lands offer millions of people life-changing encounters with the nation’s natural and cultural heritage, and public lands–related tourism is the economic anchor of many communities.

This vast portfolio is administered by four government agencies. The least known, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), looks after the most land, about 256 million acres. The other three are the U.S. Forest Service (193 million acres), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (91 million), and the best known, the National Park Service (78 million). Some of these lands have been logged and mined, and a significant portion are grazed by domesticated livestock, but today the vast majority have been set aside for recreation, inspiration, environmental conservation, science, and preservation of cultural heritage.

Yet Congress has given only about one-fifth of this acreage wilderness status, protected by law from practically all development. Another one-quarter is subject to congressionally imposed limitations that constrain—but do not entirely prohibit—an aggressive executive from intensively developing these lands. And although another one-third has been protected by decisions made by earlier presidential administrations, these are reversible unless