> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.adamsowards.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# How the U.S. came to protect the natural world
- URL: https://www.adamsowards.net/how-the-u-s-came-to-protect-the-natural-world/
- Published: 2022-09-25T07:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-02-15T01:09:04.000Z
- Author: Adam M. Sowards
- Tags: opinions, op-ed, publication, 2022, yellowstone national park, general mining act, la times, zocalo public square, slate, Public Lands

"How the U.S. came to protect the natural world — and exploit it at the same time," *Los Angeles Times* (September 25, 2022). (Print version titled: "Our troubled history as stewards of public lands.")

[Op-Ed: How the U.S. came to protect the natural world — and exploit it at the same timeOne 1872 U.S. law aimed to preserve the natural world, establishing Yellowstone park. The other, the General Mining Act, sacrificed public lands.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fa/10/fa102a82-f50e-4e06-9a70-213785342d94/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-3.png)Los Angeles TimesAdam M. Sowards![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fa/10/fa102a82-f50e-4e06-9a70-213785342d94/content/images/thumbnail/75-1)](https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-09-25/yellowstone-park-mining-land-use-act-1872?ref=adamsowards.net)

Alternative versions appeared elsewhere: 

[What Do Mining Claims and National Parks Have in Common? | EssayAmerica Enacted Two Environmental Laws 10 Weeks Apart in 1872\. One Encouraged Drilling Into Public Lands—The Other Tried to Conserve Them.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fa/10/fa102a82-f50e-4e06-9a70-213785342d94/content/images/icon/cropped-Zocalo-Z-Apple-512-1.png)Zócalo Public SquareAdam M. Sowards![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fa/10/fa102a82-f50e-4e06-9a70-213785342d94/content/images/thumbnail/yellowstone-S.jpg)](https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2022/10/27/national-parks-mining-laws-conservation/ideas/essay/?ref=adamsowards.net)

[How Did National Parks and Mining Get So Entangled?A fundamental idea animates American culture and law: that land is meant to be owned or controlled.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fa/10/fa102a82-f50e-4e06-9a70-213785342d94/content/images/icon/icon.180x180.png)SlateAdam M. Sowards![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fa/10/fa102a82-f50e-4e06-9a70-213785342d94/content/images/thumbnail/c565b867-ddec-4d9a-b661-43358e9e4ec9.jpeg)](https://slate.com/technology/2022/11/mining-national-parks-ulysses-grant.html?ref=adamsowards.net)