The Uncosted West · Episode 1 of 15 · 48 min
How America Gave Away Its Public Land and Kept the Bill
A Forest Service crew hand-built a stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail across Tahoe land closed to protect it, then watched a rancher's leased sheep trample it to dust. That scene defines the externality and introduces three frameworks that let private industry mine, graze, and log federal land for almost nothing: the 1872 Mining Act, the 1934 Taylor Grazing Act, and the below-cost timber program.
Who's who
- Ulysses S. Grant+8 more episodesPresident who signed the General Mining Act of 1872
- Lyndon B. Johnson+7 more episodesPresident who signed the 1968 National Trails System Act
Where it happens
- Tahoe National Forest, California+1 more episodeWhere a trail crew's new Pacific Crest Trail tread was trampled
- Pacific Crest Trail, CaliforniaFirst National Scenic Trail named in 1968
Timeline
- 1872General Mining Act opens hardrock minerals to private claim without a royalty
- 1934Taylor Grazing Act creates grazing districts, permits, and fees
- October 2, 1968National Trails System Act names the Pacific Crest and Appalachian Trails
- 1976FLPMA makes retaining public lands in federal ownership national policy
- 2025-2026Renewed fight over selling federal lands and reforming the mining law
Still debated
Federal land is about 28 percent of the country, rounded to a third. Defenders of low grazing fees note federal allotments are lower quality, and timber loss estimates vary with accounting method. The 1872 law's 'zero royalty' refers to no production royalty, not no fees.
Connected episodes in other series
Free and Open: The Law That Gave Away the WestFree and Open: The 1872 Mining Law · Episode 1Also features Ulysses S. Grant
Why the Sioux Refuse Over a Billion DollarsAs Long as the Grass Grows · Episode 9Also features Ulysses S. Grant
The Machinery of Privilege: How Deferments Rigged the Vietnam DraftGreeting: America and the Draft · Episode 9Also features Lyndon B. Johnson
The Eastern Ghost: The Lesson the West IgnoredRivers Reborn · Episode 8Also features Ulysses S. Grant