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Sagebrush Rebellion
The Sagebrush Rebellion was a movement in the Western United States in the 1970s and the 1980s that sought major changes to federal land control, use, and disposal policy in 13 western states in which federal land holdings include between 20% and 85% of a state's area. Supporters of the movement wanted more state and local control over the lands, if not outright transfer of them to state and local authorities and/or privatization. As much of the land in question is sagebrush steppe, supporters adopted the name "Sagebrush Rebellion."
In 1981 James G. Watt, one of the leaders, became Secretary of the Interior in the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, and worked to roll back federal environmental policies.
The movement continues to have support by persons interested in developing the lands for resource extraction and private benefits, such as livestock grazing, mineral extraction, and timber harvesting. Opponents place higher value on private economic benefits by recreation and societal benefits of open space and hard-to-quantify economic benefits of ecosystem services.
The term "Sagebrush Rebellion" was coined during fights over designation of National Wilderness lands, especially in western states, especially after the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management conducted required surveys of plots of public lands of at least 5,000 acres (7.8 sq mi; 20 km2) that had roads removed after 1972 for the potential designation as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The process was known as the "Roadless Area Review and Evaluation" (RARE, or later, RARE I). The RARE process developed significant opposition from both environmental groups and public lands users and was challenged in federal court. The results of RARE I were nullified by the courts for lack of uniform criteria for evaluation of lands and other procedural problems. A second review started in 1977, known as RARE II, and involved more than 60 million acres (24 million km2) of wildland under federal jurisdiction. RARE II was completed in 1979, but the effort was largely sidelined during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, who was elected in 1980. Reagan declared himself a sagebrush rebel in an August 1980 campaign speech in Salt Lake City and told the crowd, "I happen to be one who cheers and supports the Sagebrush Rebellion. Count me in as a rebel." Reagan faced opposition from conservation organizations.[citation needed] The struggle persists today after changing form with the "wise use movement" in 1988. Even so, many wilderness areas were signed into law by Reagan during the 1980s, including many identified through the RARE processes.
The National Wilderness Preservation System grew out of recommendations of a Kennedy administration presidential commission, the Outdoor Recreational Resources Review Commission chaired by Laurance Rockefeller, whose 1962 report suggested legislation to protect recreational resources in a "national system of wild and scenic rivers," a national wilderness system, a national trails system, the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, and recreation areas administered by existing public lands agencies beyond National Parks and National Monuments, both of which are administered in the Department of the Interior by the National Park Service.
Much of the wildland was sagebrush, which some wanted to use for grazing, off-road vehicle use, and other development, instead of wilderness conservation. These "rebels" urged that instead of designating more federal wilderness protection, some or much of the land should be granted to states or private parties. They took on the phrase "Sagebrush Rebellion" to describe their opposition to federal management of the lands.[citation needed]
Among the first pieces of legislation passed following independence was the Land Ordinance of 1785, which provided for the surveying and sale of lands in the area created by state cessions of western land to the national government. Later, the Northwest Ordinance provided for the political organization of the Northwest Territories (now the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and part of northeastern Minnesota).
To encourage settlement of western lands, Congress passed the first of several Homestead Acts in 1862, granting parcels in 40-acre (160,000 m2) increments to homesteaders who could maintain a living on land for a period of time. Congress also made huge land grants to various railroads working to complete a transcontinental rail system. Much of the latter grants intentionally included mineral and timber-rich lands so that the railroads could get financing to build. Again, the hypothesis was that the railroads would sell off the land to get money.
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Sagebrush Rebellion
The Sagebrush Rebellion was a movement in the Western United States in the 1970s and the 1980s that sought major changes to federal land control, use, and disposal policy in 13 western states in which federal land holdings include between 20% and 85% of a state's area. Supporters of the movement wanted more state and local control over the lands, if not outright transfer of them to state and local authorities and/or privatization. As much of the land in question is sagebrush steppe, supporters adopted the name "Sagebrush Rebellion."
In 1981 James G. Watt, one of the leaders, became Secretary of the Interior in the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, and worked to roll back federal environmental policies.
The movement continues to have support by persons interested in developing the lands for resource extraction and private benefits, such as livestock grazing, mineral extraction, and timber harvesting. Opponents place higher value on private economic benefits by recreation and societal benefits of open space and hard-to-quantify economic benefits of ecosystem services.
The term "Sagebrush Rebellion" was coined during fights over designation of National Wilderness lands, especially in western states, especially after the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management conducted required surveys of plots of public lands of at least 5,000 acres (7.8 sq mi; 20 km2) that had roads removed after 1972 for the potential designation as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The process was known as the "Roadless Area Review and Evaluation" (RARE, or later, RARE I). The RARE process developed significant opposition from both environmental groups and public lands users and was challenged in federal court. The results of RARE I were nullified by the courts for lack of uniform criteria for evaluation of lands and other procedural problems. A second review started in 1977, known as RARE II, and involved more than 60 million acres (24 million km2) of wildland under federal jurisdiction. RARE II was completed in 1979, but the effort was largely sidelined during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, who was elected in 1980. Reagan declared himself a sagebrush rebel in an August 1980 campaign speech in Salt Lake City and told the crowd, "I happen to be one who cheers and supports the Sagebrush Rebellion. Count me in as a rebel." Reagan faced opposition from conservation organizations.[citation needed] The struggle persists today after changing form with the "wise use movement" in 1988. Even so, many wilderness areas were signed into law by Reagan during the 1980s, including many identified through the RARE processes.
The National Wilderness Preservation System grew out of recommendations of a Kennedy administration presidential commission, the Outdoor Recreational Resources Review Commission chaired by Laurance Rockefeller, whose 1962 report suggested legislation to protect recreational resources in a "national system of wild and scenic rivers," a national wilderness system, a national trails system, the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, and recreation areas administered by existing public lands agencies beyond National Parks and National Monuments, both of which are administered in the Department of the Interior by the National Park Service.
Much of the wildland was sagebrush, which some wanted to use for grazing, off-road vehicle use, and other development, instead of wilderness conservation. These "rebels" urged that instead of designating more federal wilderness protection, some or much of the land should be granted to states or private parties. They took on the phrase "Sagebrush Rebellion" to describe their opposition to federal management of the lands.[citation needed]
Among the first pieces of legislation passed following independence was the Land Ordinance of 1785, which provided for the surveying and sale of lands in the area created by state cessions of western land to the national government. Later, the Northwest Ordinance provided for the political organization of the Northwest Territories (now the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and part of northeastern Minnesota).
To encourage settlement of western lands, Congress passed the first of several Homestead Acts in 1862, granting parcels in 40-acre (160,000 m2) increments to homesteaders who could maintain a living on land for a period of time. Congress also made huge land grants to various railroads working to complete a transcontinental rail system. Much of the latter grants intentionally included mineral and timber-rich lands so that the railroads could get financing to build. Again, the hypothesis was that the railroads would sell off the land to get money.