In the 1980s and 1990s, many people in western America were angry about how the government managed public lands. They believed that local people should have more control. This anger helped start the Sagebrush Rebellion and later the Wise Use movement. These fights about land and who should control it helped bring new attention to the conservative side of politics, especially the New Right. The Sagebrush Rebellion was made up of ranchers, miners, and loggers in Western states who didn’t like federal rules that limited what they could do on public land. These people felt that the federal government was making too many decisions from Washington, D.C., without listening to local communities. They wanted the government to turn over federal land to the states so local people could decide how to use it. They saw this as an issue about freedom in general, not just the land. Many people in the west saw themselves as living close to the land, with strong traditions of independence. They believed they knew better than far-away politicians and environmental groups. They also felt that they were being looked down on and ignored by people in the east. They felt that environmental laws, like the Endangered Species Act and wilderness protections, were being forced on them. These laws made it harder to use the land for jobs and growth.
In the 1990s, the Wise Use movement began to take the place of the Sagebrush Rebellion. They fought for similar things, while the Wise Use movement was even more connected to business. It got support from big companies in oil, timber, and mining. These companies worked with local groups to push back against what they saw as unfair environmental rules. The Wise Use leaders said they supported multiple use of public land, which means that land should not just be protected, but also could have other uses like logging, mining, or recreation.
The New Right was a conservative political movement that was supported by the conflict over land and the environment. These conflicts helped develop the New Right ideas of property rights, individual freedom, and suspicion of government power. People who joined the Sagebrush Rebellion or Wise Use movement often became active in Republican politics. They felt the New Right shared their views that the federal government was too powerful and that local people should decide how land is used. One big issue was wilderness designation. When land was called wilderness, it became off limits to roads, machines, or development. This caused big disagreements, especially in states like Utah, where people depended on public land for grazing and other uses. Local leaders fought hard to stop more land from becoming wilderness, saying it hurt their way of life.
Will Wright 
Hi!
Great blog post. You hinted at this trend in your first paragraph, but the Sagebrush Rebellion differed from the Wise Use movement in its appeal to states’ rights. While President Reagan was sympathetic to the cause, I think the article did a good job at honing in on the difficulties of transferring federal land over to states. Not only is it constitutionally-suspect (Congress has authority over federal lands), but it also is economically burdensome for the states’. The article mentions how a significant proportion of Western states heavily depended on federal investments and subsidies. Despite citizens’ and local leaders suspicion of big government, they still received massive sums from the federal government, which makes it incredibly difficult to retain ownership over public lands. You did a great job of honing in on the emotional tensions of this time, and the rationale behind these grassroots movements!
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