How Congress Created America's First Public Lands

In this “Civics of Conservation” episode of the Project Upland Podcast, AJ and Gabby explore one of the most consequential transformations in American history: how the United States went from a nation committed to disposing of its public domain to one that began preserving land for future generations.

Together, they trace the federal government's acquisition of nearly 1.8 billion acres through purchases, treaties, and wars before examining how Congress exercised its constitutional authority under the Property Clause to transfer much of that land into private ownership through land sales, railroad grants, military bounty lands, and the Homestead Act. Along the way, they confront the profound human cost of westward expansion, including the displacement and dispossession of Indigenous peoples whose homelands became the foundation of the nation's public domain.

The conversation then follows the emergence of a new philosophy of federal land management, exploring the significance of the Hot Springs Reservation of 1832, the Yosemite Grant of 1864, and the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872. These milestones reveal how Congress began using its existing constitutional authority not only to dispose of federal lands but also to preserve extraordinary landscapes for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people.

Throughout the episode, AJ and Gabby argue that this shift from land disposal to land retention fundamentally reshaped the relationship between Americans and their public lands, laying the constitutional, political, and philosophical foundation for the national forests, wildlife refuges, Bureau of Land Management lands, and national parks that millions of Americans rely on today.

Listen to past episodes here: Project Upland Podcast

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