In 1964, the Wilderness Act was passed, allowing the federal government to set aside certain lands and designate them as protected wilderness. This and the wilderness movement initially received fairly bipartisan support from both Democrats and Republicans, in large part due to its moderate approach (Turner 126). Many compromises were made, such as mainly only protecting lands that weren’t useful for the economy, which allowed the act to be widely supported in Congress. However, as the environmentalists gained more and more traction and influence, the scope of the designated public lands began to increase which weakened the support previously gained by the Wilderness Act’s compromises (Turner 130). These increases in scope were in the form of wilderness reviews which re-evaluated what lands would be protected in certain areas of the U.S. Regions such as Alaska and the West were hit the hardest by these reviews and there began to be backlash from citizens, resource industries, and governments both on the local and state levels. These were the beginnings of what would eventually become the Sagebrush Rebellion.
The Sagebrush Rebellion was a movement in the West against public lands reform by the federal government (Turner 131). Proponents of the rebellion viewed the increased land acquisitions as disregarding statehood and infringing on their rights and freedoms. In Alaska, signs were put up that said “States Rights!” or “Alaskans Can Manage Alaskan Lands” (Turner 130). Boise Cascade, an Idahoan paper and wood product manufacturer ran advertisements saying, “You bet we have an economic interest. You do too. So does your whole town” (Turner 130). These sentiments and similar ones were the prevailing theme across the rebellion, and many of them aligned with conservative thought, so much so that they became more and more aligned with the New Right. Conservative politicians such as Steven Symms used the talking points of the rebellion to gain their support (Turner 134). The sagebrush rebellion had become a movement that nurtured conservative activism and eventually was a pivotal piece for the Republican party’s reclamation of power. Although the West had traditionally been a more Democrat aligned region, at least in terms of representatives sent to the Senate, this began to change with the increased influence of the sagebrush rebellion, and by 1981, the Senate had 17 Republicans representing the West out of the total 24 (Turner 133).
The wise use movement which began around the late 1980s, despite being similar to the sagebrush rebellion, had notable differences. Although also aligning with conservative values, the wise use movement emphasized different aspects of conservatism in conjunction with the opposition to wilderness legislation. This movement emphasized the right to bear arms, specifically on public lands, as well as the right to own private property among other constitutional rights (Turner 138). Furthermore, these rights and the rights of individual citizens were the main focus of the wise use movement, and the interests of the states and industries were kept out of the spotlight. In fact, its aim was to frame the fight against environmentalism more like a social movement for the common American, despite being funded mostly through powerful industry individuals (Turner 139).
Will Wright 