Sagebrush Rebellion

James Watt, Ted Kaczynski and power over lands
James Watt, Ted Kaczynski and power over lands
The legacies of the two recently departed men are intertwined.
A ‘seismic shift’ for public lands?
A ‘seismic shift’ for public lands?
The new Public Lands Rule would put conservation on par with other uses.
How to prevent an anti-government revolution
How to prevent an anti-government revolution
In eastern Oregon, one strategy has proven effective at inoculating communities against extremist ideology.
Rebels with a lost cause
Rebels with a lost cause
The fiercely conservative lawyers of the Sagebrush Rebellion continue to fight against environmental regulations, but despite all their sound and fury, very little has changed on the public lands.
Taking Liberties
The Western states are home to a stealth campaign by libertarians who – under the guise of reforming eminent domain – are out to destroy all land-use planning through "takings" ballot initiatives
The West’s Biggest Bully
Radio shock jock John Stokes wants to scare environmentalists away from Montana’s Flathead County, but his bullying tactics have led instead to increased unity among his opponents and quiet conservation progress
Change comes slowly to Escalante country
Change comes slowly to Escalante country
Just as it seemed the local communities were starting to accept the BLM’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the rise of conservative national politics has helped to revive old grudges and stir up opposition
Road warriors back on the offensive
The Bush administration rolls back a Clinton-era moratorium on RS 2477, a controversial old statute that some Western counties have used to claim designated roads in wilderness areas, parks and monuments
Showdown on the Nevada range
The Sagebrush Rebellion smolders when the BLM impounds and tries to auction off cattle owned by ranchers Ben Colvin and Jack Vogt for refusing to pay for grazing allotments.
People for the USA! disbands
People for the USA! says it is officially disbanding due to declining membership and funding, but its members plan to keep their wise-use mission alive by merging with another conservation group, Frontiers for Freedom.
The last Celtic warlord lives in New Mexico
A profile of Catron County, N.M.'s lawyer, Jim Catron, reveals a man steeped in Celtic and cowboy mythology, and uncompromising in his anti-government fervor.
Shoveling vs. sniveling
A Montana mill owner's plan to send 10,000 shovels to Elko, Nev., so sagebrush rebels can re-open a road closed by the Forest Service, is "a triumph of symbolism over substance," according to the writer.
Nevadans drive out forest supervisor
Citing a climate of threatening, "irresponsible fed-bashing" that made it almost impossible for her to do her job, supervisor Gloria Flora resigns from her job overseeing Nevada's Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
The Forest Service sets off into uncharted territory
The latest struggle over the West's public lands centers on the Forest Service's huge system of logging roads, which conservationists want to see closed and obliterated, and off-road-vehicle users want opened to motorized recreation.
Nevada’s ugly tug-of-war
A writer tours the heart of the Sagebrush Rebellion - Elko County, Nev. - and talks to people on both sides of the struggle.
To save a Utah canyon, a BLM ranger quits and turns activist
Former BLM ranger Skip Edwards fights to preserve Utah's Westwater Canyon as wilderness at the same time that miner Ron Pene seeks to develop his family's mining claims in the canyon.
Armed, crazy and lost in the Wild West
The mixture of guns, anti-environmentalism and conspiracy theories in the Northwest makes a frightening, fascist brew.
Forest Service bombed in Nevada
A bomb damages the Toiyabe Forest Service office in Carson City, Nevada.
County commissioner courts bloodshed
County Commissioner Dick Carver...
Waaaaaaaaaaaahh! The West refuses to be weaned
A Chicago columnist castigates the supposedly independent West as "an overgrown brat."
Land-use plan is disemboweled
A proposed land-use plan for Montana's Flathead County faces violent opposition.
Ranchers arrested at wildlife refuge
Ranchers arrested at wildlife refuge
The arrest of rancher Dwight Hammond for running cattle on a wildlife refuge provokes a wise-use backlash in Oregon.
'Wise use' plans abhor change
Wise-use groups resist any attempt to restrict land use.
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