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Show CHAPTER TWO To Whom the Public Lands Are Important WE START with a strong belief that the public lands of the United States and their resources are important to everyone. These lands are a natural heritage and national asset that belong to all of us. Each American should cherish them and seek to assure their retention and management or disposition-in the words of section 1 of the Commission's Organic Act-so as to provide "the maximum benefit for the general public." How does one achieve "maximum benefit"? How does one define "general public"? Virtually all matters of governmental policy pose questions of relative advantages and disadvantages to different segments of our society. Public land policy is no different. To arrive at a reasonable judgment of what constitutes the maximum benefit for the general public requires evaluating and weighing many diverse considerations and interests. As part of our research program, a staff study was undertaken to develop criteria and identify factors that could be used to assist us in making a consistent and rational approach toward defining the maximum benefit for the general public in public land matters. In addition to soliciting the views of the Commission's Advisory Council and the representatives of the 50 Governors, individuals and groups throughout the country were asked to contribute their recommendations. Not only was the question of maximum benefit for the general public a recurrent theme in many of the meetings of the Advisory Council with the Governors' Representatives participating, but three of our meetings with these advisors focused specifically on this subject. Many of the Commission's witnesses and correspondents also made recommendations. We recognized that there cannot be a scientifically accurate manner of determining how the various justifiable interests can and should be weighed in order to assure maximum benefit for the general public. But we did find that it is useful to categorize and catalog such interests in order to determine their common goals and objectives as well as the conflicts among them. It is also essential to have an historical perspective on the use of the public lands in examining the role that these lands must fulfill today and in the years ahead. The public lands have played a vital, though changing, role in the development of the Nation. Historically, they served as an inducement for the development of the frontier and, before the Civil War, as a major source of revenue. Today, the public lands must serve more complex and rapidly changing needs. Even though other aspects of national policy may overshadow public land policy, the public lands are, indeed, still important to all the people of the country. We found, however, that recognizing the importance of public lands in our national life was only the first step in approaching our task of making recommendations that will serve the public interest. The wide range of suggestions received by the Commission, the very considerable differences in the apparent interests of various individuals and groups, and the great geographical variation in population relative to the public lands, all suggest that the general public must be recognized as a composite of many different interests. One of our earliest conclusions was that the "general public" is in fact made up of many publics. The variety and range of those having a direct 33 |