The American West’s Great Checkerboard
Problem

As Long as the U.S. System Privileges Private Property, Thousands of Acres of Public Lands Will Remain Off Limits

The West has a checkerboard problem.

According to the company behind the popular hunting app OnX, 530,000 acres of public lands in California alone are inaccessible to the general public. That’s because they alternate with privately owned lands in the shape of a checkerboard.

It’s easy to see the checkerboard and its inaccessible public lands just by looking at a road atlas. The western Mojave Desert, the swath northwest of Lake Tahoe, and the area between Redding and the Oregon border all have alternating square-mile checks of private and public land. But …

What America’s National Parklands Taught My Three Boys About Their Country

A Michigan Teacher Wanted His Sons to Roam the Nation's Expanses, Grasp Its Opportunities, and Understand Its Injustices

Last August, my sons and I paddled canoes through the Missouri River Breaks National Monument in eastern Montana. The Breaks is remote country, a prairie river cutting through coulees and …

Why We Need More Latinos to Hit the Trails

State and National Parks Won’t Survive Unless a Diverse Cross Section of Americans Steps Up to Protect Them

During my more than 30-year career as a California state park ranger, I was known as the diversity guy because I was one of the few Latinos to wear the …