During the 1980s and 1990s, two interrelated movements—the Sagebrush Rebellion and the Wise Use movement—emerged from the American West in response to federal land-use policies and environmental regulations. Rooted in local resistance to increasing federal control over public lands, these movements reflected broader cultural, economic, and political shifts that helped shape the New Right. As James Morton Turner argues in “The Specter of Environmentalism,” battles over wilderness designations and environmental protections became flashpoints in a growing ideological divide between rural Western communities and an expanding federal bureaucracy, ultimately fueling a more populist and combative strain of conservatism.
The Sagebrush Rebellion began in the late 1970s as a political response to federal land policies that restricted grazing, mining, and timber harvesting on public lands. In Western states where a significant portion of land is federally owned, these restrictions directly threatened the livelihoods of ranchers, miners, and loggers. The Rebellion called for the transfer of federal lands to state or local control, arguing that such policies reflected the dominance of elite, urban environmentalists over rural communities. The movement gained national attention when Ronald Reagan embraced its cause during his 1980 presidential campaign, signaling a shift in Republican alignment with anti-regulatory, property-rights-focused constituencies in the West.
Building on the energy of the Sagebrush Rebellion, the Wise Use movement of the late 1980s and 1990s expanded the message to a broader national audience. Promoted by industry groups, conservative think tanks, and grassroots activists, Wise Use championed private property rights, deregulation, and multiple-use land management. It cast environmentalists as out-of-touch elites imposing restrictive laws that threatened traditional American values, economic freedom, and individual liberty. The movement’s rhetoric shifted the debate over environmental policy from a matter of conservation to one of cultural identity and political ideology.
Turner highlights how these Western land-use battles contributed to the evolution of the New Right by providing a potent narrative of resistance against federal overreach. Environmental regulations, especially those related to wilderness protection, became symbols of broader concerns about governmental intrusion, the erosion of local control, and the marginalization of rural voices. The movements reframed environmentalism as an ideological threat, not just a policy disagreement, thus transforming the environmental debate into a cornerstone of the conservative culture war.
Ultimately, the Sagebrush Rebellion and Wise Use movement helped solidify a coalition within the New Right that united economic interests, libertarian ideals, and cultural resentments. Their influence reached deep into national politics, reshaping Republican environmental policy and energizing a grassroots conservative movement that continues to challenge federal authority over land and natural resources today.
Will Wright 