Founding the American Commons: A Documentary History of the People and Ideas that Shaped Public Lands and Wildlife Protection Policy

As the push to develop the interior reaches of the United States surged in the nineteenth century, a few visionary citizens advocated for identifying and protecting lands with superior scenery, abundant wildlife, and unique resources. Today, almost one-third of the nation’s land base constitutes the American Commons, a designation that refers to our shared national resources, managed under a doctrine of public trust and manifest in the ideal of democratic governance.

Founding the American Co...