This Sovereign Land.

• Author: Tobias, Carl
• Position: Book Review

1. DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS II. CONTRIBUTIONS III. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FUTURE IV. CONCLUSION I. DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS

   This Sovereign Land (1) is a careful exposition of western history which emphasizes the public lands. The book meticulously explores these lands' century-old "imperial" origins (2) and local rebellion against that notion, (3) the empire's recent decline (4) and concomitant maturation of the area, (5) and the potential rise of indigenous democracy which might govern the region by reclaiming sovereignty over the public lands. (6)

   Kemmis surveys the "lay of the land" in the "dry core"--the eight public lands states with mountainous topography and exquisite landscapes (7)--that is Indian Country (8) and has long been considered distinct. (9) He finds the West fast-growing, which imposes pressures on the land, while newcomers who lack familiarity with local traditions will make the area less politically homogeneous even as regional ingenuity can treat impending change. (10)

   The author recounts the origins, mythologization, and flaws of "two old stories": national regulation and resource exploitation. Kemmis first revisits the American variant of imperialism, "manifest destiny," that created the West by reserving the public lands and the 1970s federal environmental statutes which affected the area most profoundly; he claims the laws' convergence with conservation in the form of national democracy has tyrannized and colonized many local residents. (11) Second, he evaluates the 100-year resistance to public lands' ownership and management by a distant government in a dissimilar region. (12) The writer details resentment of federal domination that began at the lands' inception and traces restructuring and denationalizing efforts, which failed because of concern that local control would facilitate increased exploitation. (13) He canvasses recent opposition, namely the Sagebrush Rebellion and the County Movement; however, at century's end, this resistance is no more effective than the centralized system against which it struggles. (14)

   Kemmis next scrutinizes federal control's potential demise (15) and finds national governments worldwide undermined by globalism, continentalism and regionalism--forces witnessed in the decreasing vitality and legitimacy of public land management agencies and of industrial-era economies and communities. (16) He asserts that global change appears to be prompting renewed interest in, and experimentation with, regionalism, even as the West matures politically or at least displays greater cognizance of a regional identity shaped by its landforms. (17) The author analyzes burgeoning cooperation among ranchers, loggers, miners, environmentalists, and recreationists over public land and natural resource management in particular river drainages and ecosystems. (18) Kemmis articulates numerous serious concerns about the nascent collaboration movement, which he partly assesses by linking the challenges this endeavor and Indian tribes pose for national sovereignty. (19) The writer thus advocates testing at diverse western venues to determine whether the emergent movement or the current scheme's accommodation of new decisionmaking processes is preferable. (20) He argues that federal control should cease because the region is the ideal locus from which to question--in a profoundly democratic, Jeffersonian, and American way--a steadily deteriorating regime. (21)

   The author invokes John Wesley Powell for the notions of cooperation and watershed management, which might guide western self-governance. (22) Kemmis proposes that the area adopt the postindustrial age's chief organizing principle of organic, natural land forms related through federal structures. (23) He concretizes this idea by elaborating a site-specific watershed compact. (24) Kemmis admits his imaginative suggestion would require a regional political realignment and a national belief in the advisability of local control. (25) He urges that Democrats move toward democracy by trusting western management and Republicans embrace true conservatism again. (26) Kemmis champions federalism's reinvention and democracy's revitalization to foster regional self-governance, while a more vital, grounded form of democracy on a human scale should replace national control, which was once deemed most democratic and ecologically sound. (27) He concludes that affording Westerners responsibility for the area could help recall America to its deepest democratic origins. (28)

2. CONTRIBUTIONS

   This Sovereign Land is a compendium on the West as viewed through the public lands prism. Kemmis's analysis of...