Public Lands

America’s public lands include more than 600 million acres of forests, plains, mountains, wetlands, deserts, and shorelines. In this book, John Leshy, a leading expert in public lands policy, discusses the key political decisions that led to this, beginning at the very founding of the nation. He 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.

“An inspiring reminder of the incredible resource that is our public lands.” —Brendan Leonard, author of The Camping Life and Surviving the Great Outdoors Across 193 million acres of forests, mountains, deserts, watersheds, and grasslands, national forests provide a multitude of uses as...

Since its inception, however, America’s public land system has been embroiled in controversy - caught in the push and pull between the desire to develop the valuable resources the land holds or conserve them. Alarmed by rising tensions over the use of these lands, hunter, angler, and outdoor enthusiast Mark Kenyon set out to explore the spaces involved in this heated debate, and learn firsthand how they came to be and what their future might hold.

At stake in 1896 was the new idea that some landscapes should be collectively, permanently owned by a democratic government. Although many people today think of public lands as an American birthright, their very existence was then in doubt and dependent on a merger of the talents of these two men. Natural Rivals examines a time of environmental threat and political dysfunction not unlike our own and reveals the complex dynamic that gave birth to America’s rich public lands legacy. 

My husband unveiled a new cattle brand in front of the whole county. The initials weren’t mine. For ten years, I kept Blackwater Ridge alive. I balanced the books, fed calves through ice storms, negotiated with creditors, paid vendors late enough to survive but not late enough to lose them, and smiled while my husband took the credit. Then he stands at the annual branding ceremony, tips his hat to the crowd, and announces a “new era” for our ranch. A new brand. A new future. A new woman. Her initials burned into my cattle. Everyone claps. I don’t. Because the land under those cattle...

The definitive story of the California redwoods, their discovery and their exploitation, as told by an activist who fought to protect their existence against those determined to cut them down. Every year millions of tourists from around the world visit California’s famous redwoods. Yet few who...

Discover how to camp beyond crowded campgrounds with The Beginner’s Guide to Dispersed Camping and Boondocking, a practical introduction to finding freedom, flexibility, and low-cost adventure on the open road. This beginner-friendly guide explains how dispersed camping and boondocking work, where people can legally camp, how to find suitable sites, and what it takes to stay safe and comfortable without hookups. Inside, you’ll find clear, grounded guidance on public lands, campsite research, basic gear, water, waste, power, road conditions, weather, and common beginner mistakes. Whether...

Today, we are at a turning point as we face ecological and political crises that are rooted in conflicts over the land itself. But these problems can be solved if we draw on elements of our tradition that move us toward a new commonwealth - a community founded on the well-being of all people and the natural world.  

Debates continue to rage over the merits or flaws of public land and whether or not it should be privatized - or at least, radically reconfigured in some way. In Defense of Public Lands offers a comprehensive refutation of the market-oriented arguments. Steven Davis passionately advocates that public land ought to remain firmly in the public’s hands. He reviews empirical data and theoretical arguments from biological, economic, and political perspectives in order to build a case for why our public lands are an invaluable and irreplaceable asset for the American people.

A hard-hitting look at the battle now raging over the fate of the public lands in the American West--and a plea for the protection of these last wild places The public lands of the western United States comprise some 450 million acres of grassland, steppe land, canyons, forests, and mountains...

In Bowhunting Deer: The Secrets of the PSE Pros, these men will tell you how they set up to take them and how they choose a hunting bow and other hunting gear they feel with give them the best opportunities to take those bucks of their lifetimes. You'll also see how a serious deer hunter prepares to take a deer and the different strategies he utilizes to look for a big whitetail and grow a bigger whitetail on the property he hunts.

An older man, who has spent his life and has decades of experience up on the mountain and in the outdoors, goes on a hunting trip. Against his family's wishes and advice, he goes alone. He must go where he believes he has to be, his place in the world. He's a mountain man, and this is the only place he feels he belongs. The only place he feels at peace. He is there because he wants to be. Because he needs to be.

Teddy K. — Private Eye Once he believed a cabin with no electricity was an argument, and that a letter could make a difference. The establishment thought otherwise and threw him in a cage. Isolation turned out to be the one kindness the system ever did him: no screens, no pings, only the long corridors of thought. Then the oval room. A secret pardon. A new license. A black sedan that never waves. He rents his attention by the day. Two hundred plus expenses. Three if he has to bleed. He passes on ideology. Ideology is how you get remembered, and he has been remembered enough. Esther Feld ...

A Sweeping History of the Great State of Wyoming Wyoming is America's least populated state, a vast expanse of mountains and high plains where fierce independence meets harsh reality. This sweeping history traces how a remote frontier territory became synonymous with the American West—and why it now faces an uncertain future. From Paleo-Indian hunters to fur trappers, from cattle barons to energy executives, Wyoming has always been defined by extraction and extremity. It was the land of mountain men and the Oregon Trail, of Red Cloud's War and the transcontinental railroad, of open-range ...

Bloomsbury presents The Pathless Land: Finding a Way Across Ireland by Tim Hannigan, read by Stephen Perring An epic journey on foot from Dingle to Burr Point in search of Ireland’s lost footpaths, and a quest to unravel the complexities of countryside access in Ireland and Britain. Ireland is...

Here they are, the 2000s, and Barbara Ehrenreich's antidotes are as sardonic as they are spot-on: pet insurance for your kids; Salvation Army fashions for those who can no longer afford Wal-Mart; and boundless rage against those who have given us a nation scarred by deepening inequality, corroded by distrust, and shamed by its official cruelty.

American Zion is the story of the Bundy family, famous for their armed conflicts in the West. With an antagonism that goes back to the very first Mormons who fled the Midwest for the Great Basin, they hold a sense of entitlement that confronts both law and democracy. Today their cowboy...

The Beginner’s Guide to Turkey Hunting is your practical starting point for entering the woods with confidence, patience, and respect. Spring turkey hunting is exciting, challenging, and unlike any other outdoor pursuit. From the first distant gobble at daybreak to the careful decision of whether to take a shot, every moment rewards preparation. This guide breaks down the essential skills and decisions beginners need to understand before heading into the field. Learn how turkeys behave, how they use ridges, fields, timber, and roosting areas, and how weather and seasonal changes can ...

These words, pounded out on a laptop at Cliven Bundy’s besieged Nevada ranch on April 6, 2014, ignited a new American revolution. Across the country, a certain type of citizen snapped to attention: This was the flashpoint the they’d been waiting for, a chance to help a fellow American stand up to a tyrannical and corrupt federal government. Up in Arms chronicles how an isolated clan of desert-dwelling Mormons became the guiding light - and then the outright leaders - of America’s Patriot movement.

In this brilliant, gracefully written, and important new book, former Secretary of the Interior and Governor of Arizona Bruce Babbitt brings fresh thought to questions of how we can build a future we want to live in.