Land in the American West

Throughout the history of the United States, the concepts of 'land' and 'the West' have fired the American imagination and fueled controversy. The essays in "Land in the American West" deal with complex, troublesome, and interrelated questions regarding land: Who owns it? Who has access to it? What happens when private rights infringe upon the public good, or when one ethnic group is pitted against another, or when there is a conflict between economic and environmental values? Many of these questions have deep historical roots. They all have special significance in the modern American West, where natural resources are still abundant and large areas of land are federally owned.'This collection speaks directly to the most vexing political divisions within the New West, from urban and rural frictions to disputes over the management of non-renewable and renewable resources. The authors address an impressive range of issues from philosophical, legal, environmental, social, and political viewpoints' - William Lang, Portland State University. 'Land is a perennial 'hot button' issue in the American West, and this compilation takes the most pressing, and often most controversial, issues to agitate westerners during the past two decades and explains them well' - Carlos A. Schwantes, University of Idaho.William G. Robbins is Distinguished Professor of History at Oregon State University, Corvallis, and author of "Landscapes of Promise: The Oregon Story, 1800-1940". James C. Foster is professor and chair of political science at Oregon State University. He is the co-author of "Constitutional Law: Cases in Context". Other contributors include Carl Abbott, Daniel W. Bromley, Arthur R. Gomez, Stephen W. Haycox, Michael W. McCann, Maria E. Montoya, Sarah Pralle, William D. Rowley, and Richard White.