Our Common Ground: A History of America’s Public Lands

America’s public lands include more than 600 million acres of forests, plains, mountains, wetlands, deserts, and shorelines. 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.