
The creation of an anti-public-lands hero.
This issue’s cover story, by Associate Editor Tay Wiles, untangles the many threads behind the Bundys’ rebellion, from their faith to more radical Western strains of anti-government ideology. The story also describes how the Department of Justice and Bureau of Land Management bungled their own legal case against the family. Also in this issue, the Fish and Wildlife Service revisits rare species protections, the Interior Department deals with a larger-than-expected budget and a daughter writes an ode to her father and his acequia.