American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West

American Zion is a well-written narrative linking Mormon history and beliefs with attitudes about land use and government in the American west. Essentially it explains how people like Cliven and Ammon Bundy became willing to die for their belief that federal land belongs to them to use as they see fit. These are not mainstream Mormon attitudes, but the Bundys have a whole lot of sympathizers who consider any attempt to regulate federal lands as government overreach. I liked the book because it wove together a lot of things I knew a little bit about into a big picture that made sense. The author, Betsy Gaines Quammen, is up front about the fact that she is an advocate for public lands, but then so am I. I loved the way she dealt with the arguments about ranchers wanting to keep their "traditional" way of life via subsidized grazing on public land by pointing out that the ranchers were newcomers. The people who traditionally occupied the land were Indians, primarily the Paiute, who were forced out to make way for settlers. Unfortunately, the two incidents involving the Bundys (a standoff over removal of trespassing cattle and the occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge), have had a long-lasting impact on federal land management. Quammen says threats of violence against government employees mean that land management policies simply aren't enforced in many places and cattle are allowed to overgraze and damage public land. The truly scary thing is that these beliefs seem to be contagious and you end up with a heavily-armed coalition of white supremecist, anti-government groups who think they are saving America. Sadly, they have outsize influence with politicians in the western states, who in turn have outsize influence on the whole country because of the electoral college and the makeup of the U.S. Senate.