Home on the Range: An Anthropological Analysis Land Use Values in Conflict Between Cattle Ranchers in Southwestern Montana who Depend on Federally Owned Range Land and Environmentalists

Justin B. Lee

From 1776 until current times federal lands in the United States have been the source of conflict. This conflict has been primarily over land-use. There are three main aspects of use conflict: 1) type of use; 2) allocation of use; and 3) management of use. Embedded in this atmosphere of conflict are differing cultural value systems which have evolved in use of this land. This paper focuses on the cultural value system of ranchers in Southwestern Montana who use federal lands for grazing. It discusses those elements which can be used to explain the historic and current conflict over public grazing policy and federal land use as well as some of the current issues which contribute to the conflict.

<Get PDF>