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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Parks, wilderness and recreation

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5383465
Parks and wilderness are a unique experiment in public ownership and management with no significant counterparts in our national experience. Despite occasional controversy, the propriety of large-scale federal land ownership and management was a settled issue long before the era of big national government or federal regulation began. This gave rise to a paradox with greater continuity in federal policy and public perception of land policy on one hand and the dislocating of old, established federal land management bureaucracies on the other. The author shows in the history of the wilderness movement that the American system is capable of producing real change; that reform is possible even if the methods are unexpected. Sharing the power among the administration, courts, and legislature opens the process to a range of interest groups with different opportunities for access. As values change, the system makes transitions manageable.
OSTI ID:
5383465
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English