Ronald Reagan And The Public Lands

The federal government holds a vast domain of American land. Does it hold these acres in trust for future generations and for the planet itself? Or does it hold them as a resource for economic development and growth? Indeed, should it hold them at all? These questions became a focal point for New Right politics in the 1980 presidential election that brought Ronald Reagan into the White House. The Sagebrush Rebellion and the New Right attempted to convince the public that environmentalism threatened the nation's wellbeing. Environmentalists sought new ground for fighting back. In this cogent analysis of the public lands debate, Brant Short looks at the New Right's positions and the strategies for advancing them, the origins of dissatisfaction in the Sagebrush Rebellion, and the opposition that arose as a new conservation consensus was formed. Short's approach places the contemporary conservation debate clearly within the context of environmental issues that have confronted Americans throughout our history. The perspective he offers on recurring rhetorical strategies illuminates the continuing schism over how our public lands should be used and maintained.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States

The United States Forest Service, perhaps more than any other federal agency, has made great strides during the past two decades revolution izing its public involvement efforts and reshaping its profile through the hiring of professionals in many disciplinary areas long absent in the agency. In fact, to a large extent, the agency has been doing precisely what everyone has been clamoring for it to do: involving the public more in its decisions; hiring more wildlife biologists, recreation specialists, sociologists, planners, and individuals with "people skills"; and, fur thermore, taking a more comprehensive and long-term view in planning the future of the national forests. The result has been significant-in some ways, monumental-changes in the agency and its land manage ment practices. There are provisions for public input in almost all as pects of national forest management today. The profeSSional disciplines represented throughout the agency's ranks are markedly more diverse than they have ever been. Moreover, no stone is left untumed in the agency's current forest-planning effort, undoubtedly the most compre hensive, interdisciplinary planning effort ever undertaken by a resource agency in the United States. Regardless of the dramatic change that has occurred in the U. S. Forest Service since the early 1970s, the agency is still plagued by con flicts arising from dissatisfaction ~th how it is doing business.

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States