This volume examines social contentions regarding the use, conservation, development, and governance of public lands in the Western United States.

This edited collection explores the many ways in which diverse individuals and groups—such as state and federal managers, First Peoples, ranchers, miners, oil and gas extraction industries, sports enthusiasts, environmentalists, local residents, and tourists—actively negotiate, contest, and collaborate on issues regarding public lands in the American West. Tracing these ever-morphing alliances and antagonisms, this volume highlights the recurring patterns within this diverse array of social actors.

Chapter 1: Public Lands through the Prism of Senses of Place

Part II: Exploring Senses of Place

Chapter 2: The New Wild West: Range War as Revitalization Movement

Chapter 3: Public Land, Place, and Shadow Displacement in Rural Utah

Bruce R. Tebbs and James H. McDonald

Chapter 4: Claiming the Los Angeles River for "The Public," By Boat and By Permit

Chapter 5: Chile and New Mexico: Identity, Difference, and Place

Part III: Practices and Contexts of Collaboration and Conflict

Chapter 6: A Reckoning of the Nuclear West

Chapter 7: Public Lands Security: The Dispute over Federal versus Local Law Enforcement

Chapter 8: Restoring Wild Bison to the Heart of Cattle Country: Yellowstone’s Political Firestorm

Chapter 9: Through a Forest Wilderness:” Native American Environmental Management at Yosemite and Contested Conservation Values in America’s National Parks

Chapter 10: Nature’s Belonging: Landscapes, Conservation, and the Cultural Politics of Place in the Great Basin