Adam M. Sowards is professor of history at the University of Idaho. He is the author of United States West Coast: An Environmental History (a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2008), The Environmental Justice: William O. Douglas and American Conservation, and An Open Pit Visible from the Moon: The Wilderness Act and the Fight to Protect Miners Ridge and the Public Interest (winner of the Western History Association's Hal K. Rothman Book Prize for 2021).

• Introduction: Huckleberries around the TableChapter 1 GatheringChapter 2 FormingChapter 3 ManagingChapter 4 BalancingChapter 5 PolarizingConclusion: The Promise of the Public’s LandA Note on Sources

Before the American Revolution, the British prevented colonists' westward expansion near the Atlantic Coast via the Proclamation Line of 1763. After the Revolution, the young nation sought ways to offer new settlers the public land inherited from the new states. According to Sowards, this involved a host of scholars and a plethora of special interests and government agencies, which he highlights, but dispersal failed to be easy over time. The issue of land use is old but is as relevant as today’s news. Finding ways of conserving vast forests, mountains, wilderness, deserts, and waterways has bedeviled the nation in light of its economic and capitalistic impulses. In short, a vast number of government agencies and private organizations have attempted conservation but sometimes failed at the task. In competition with public interest, special interests often win but are sometimes thwarted in favor of the public. Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.

Adam M. Sowards is professor of history at the University of Idaho. He is the author of United States West Coast: An Environmental History (a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2008), The Environmental Justice: William O. Douglas and American Conservation, and An Open Pit Visible from the Moon: The Wilderness Act and the Fight to Protect Miners Ridge and the Public Interest (winner of the Western History Association's Hal K. Rothman Book Prize for 2021).

• Introduction: Huckleberries around the TableChapter 1 GatheringChapter 2 FormingChapter 3 ManagingChapter 4 BalancingChapter 5 PolarizingConclusion: The Promise of the Public’s LandA Note on Sources

Before the American Revolution, the British prevented colonists' westward expansion near the Atlantic Coast via the Proclamation Line of 1763. After the Revolution, the young nation sought ways to offer new settlers the public land inherited from the new states. According to Sowards, this involved a host of scholars and a plethora of special interests and government agencies, which he highlights, but dispersal failed to be easy over time. The issue of land use is old but is as relevant as today’s news. Finding ways of conserving vast forests, mountains, wilderness, deserts, and waterways has bedeviled the nation in light of its economic and capitalistic impulses. In short, a vast number of government agencies and private organizations have attempted conservation but sometimes failed at the task. In competition with public interest, special interests often win but are sometimes thwarted in favor of the public. Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.

Adam M. Sowards is professor of history at the University of Idaho. He is the author of United States West Coast: An Environmental History (a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2008), The Environmental Justice: William O. Douglas and American Conservation, and An Open Pit Visible from the Moon: The Wilderness Act and the Fight to Protect Miners Ridge and the Public Interest (winner of the Western History Association's Hal K. Rothman Book Prize for 2021).

• Introduction: Huckleberries around the TableChapter 1 GatheringChapter 2 FormingChapter 3 ManagingChapter 4 BalancingChapter 5 PolarizingConclusion: The Promise of the Public’s LandA Note on Sources

Before the American Revolution, the British prevented colonists' westward expansion near the Atlantic Coast via the Proclamation Line of 1763. After the Revolution, the young nation sought ways to offer new settlers the public land inherited from the new states. According to Sowards, this involved a host of scholars and a plethora of special interests and government agencies, which he highlights, but dispersal failed to be easy over time. The issue of land use is old but is as relevant as today’s news. Finding ways of conserving vast forests, mountains, wilderness, deserts, and waterways has bedeviled the nation in light of its economic and capitalistic impulses. In short, a vast number of government agencies and private organizations have attempted conservation but sometimes failed at the task. In competition with public interest, special interests often win but are sometimes thwarted in favor of the public. Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.