The Mobilized American West, 1940–2000 by John M. Findlay

Author:John M. Findlay [Findlay, John M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HIS036140 HISTORY / United States / State & Local / West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY), HIS036060 HISTORY / United States / 20th Century
Publisher: Nebraska

5

Armed Standoffs

The Politics of Federal Lands in the West

On March 15, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 2578 and thereby created the Jackson Hole National Monument in Wyoming. Setting aside this 221,610-acre parcel had been a goal of selected conservationists and the National Park Service since the mid-1920s. The land, which had been in the hands of private owners and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), was seen as a bridge between Yellowstone National Park (founded in 1872) and Grand Teton National Park (founded in 1929). The order aimed to consolidate the three parcels—Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Jackson Hole—under NPS administration so that all acquired the management needed to preserve the area’s migratory wild animals, protect scenic views, and contain tawdry development in the settled parts of Jackson Hole, the valley flanked by the noble peaks already designated as park lands.

While park advocates celebrated, the majority of the residents of Wyoming, and many like-minded people across the Far West, did not. FDR’s decree removed acreage from Teton National Forest, which under USFS management was leased as pasture to ranchers in the area, and put it under stricter Park Service regulations. Forest Service employees were bitter about losing land to a rival agency, and they ensured that the transfer to the Park Service did not go smoothly. Worse, Roosevelt had defied the well-known wishes of the citizens of Wyoming. To Governor Lester Hunt the move represented a “flagrant violation of states’ rights.” Even though FDR had not taken any state land, Hunt felt that the transfer of land from Forest Service to Park Service management would deprive his constituents of opportunities due to them. He also complained that conversion of private property into national park land would remove that land from state and local tax rolls. At an April meeting of western governors Hunt declared, “I shall utilize all police authority at my disposal to exit from the proposed Jackson Hole National Monument any federal official who attempts to assume authority.” Hunt’s promise contained the threat of violence or coercion against federal employees.

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