There is a common saying that America is an idea, as opposed to a place or people. And while I understand the sentiment — that our ideological commitment to individual liberty and justice transcends our differences — it is nevertheless impossible to divorce our country from its geographies and natural resources. A fundamental part of what makes us American is democratic ownership of our country’s natural beauty, and access to that beauty is one of the most valuable freedoms we enjoy.
Time and time again, special interests have attempted to capture those public lands and strip them of their resources. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, renewed that ongoing effort on June 11, when he issued draft legislation of the Trump administration’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act.” The draft included a plan to sell 2.2 to 3.3 million acres of public lands across 11 western states.
Lee asserted that his draft legislation would improve the management of federally protected land under private ownership, but faced passionate pushback from both sides of the aisle: Conservative hunters and anglers found common cause with historically left-wing climate advocacy groups. The senator eventually abandoned this policy in the final draft of the bill.
The fact that Americans across the political aisle came together to safeguard public control over public resources, which support 331.9 million visits a year, a $1.2 trillion recreation industry and 5 million jobs, is a testament to our shared commitment to stewardship and individual freedom.
Unfortunately, we should expect this corporate encroachment to persist, despite being deeply unpopular. Attempts to privatize public lands have popped up repeatedly in modern political history; it is an unavoidable fact that these lands are rich in natural resources, and big business cannot resist.
The struggle against destructive corporatism is nothing new. Over a century ago, former President Theodore Roosevelt fought tooth and nail to defend and expand the National Parks system — hailed as America’s best idea — because he knew that the security of our natural resources had direct implications for the security of our republic.
The preservation of our natural beauty is a group project. An Ohioan has just as much a right to enjoy Isle Royale National Park as a Michigander does. As the third largest country by area on earth, that shared connection to all public lands can be unifying for people living thousands of miles apart.
And while we don’t often think about American citizenship in this frame — as individual shares we hold in our public institutions — our 640 million acres of public ownership reflect our firm belief in a political equality that transcends privilege, background and means.
However, the policy victories behind our public land system are just one half of an environmental battle older than our nation. The aspirational vision of equally held, democratic land holdings is not some universal trend across American history: Like all countries, the United States obtained significant portions of its land through violent conquest and warfare. The 1800s saw the United States government carry out policies such as the Indian Removal Act and the Dawes Act, which both displaced Native Americans, forcibly seized their land and sold it off to private buyers in auctions.
As we live in the shadow of this tragic history, Americans have a heightened responsibility to steward and protect our lands from the same corporate forces that have sought to monopolize and plunder them for more than two centuries.
Therefore, Americans across the political spectrum must continue to be vigilant and hold their government accountable. In response to the Trump Administration eliminating land protections to allow increased drilling in Alaska, the bipartisan coalition that stopped Sen. Lee must step up again and make their determination clear.
Simultaneously, in response to President Trump’s executive order to expand access to public lands for recreation and improve conservation standards, environmental and conservationist groups must rally together to show their support when warranted.
These are old and complex forces at play, grappling over the future of our environment as they have long done. When the bright spots of responsible naturalism emerge, we must reinforce them against corporate encroachment to the best of our ability.
There can only be one response when monopolists seek to seize our publicly shared lands and confiscate them under private ownership: We won’t allow it, and we will vote out anyone who does.
To put it succinctly, we must keep public lands in public hands.Hunter Ryerson is an Opinion Columnist who writes about human health and innovation in his column “Human Vitals.” He can be reached at hryerson@umich.edu.
