John Leshy on Our Common Ground

Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

America’s public lands include more than 600 million acres of forests, plains, mountains, wetlands, deserts and shorelines. In his latest release, Our Common Ground, A history of America's public lands, John Leshy traces the emergence of a bipartisan political consensus in favor of the national government holding these vast land areas primarily for recreation, education and conservation of biodiversity and cultural resources. He says this is a bright spot in an era of cynicism about government. Leshy is a leading expert in public lands policy and discusses the key political decisions that led to this conservation of land beginning at the very founding of the nation. Find out more about public lands, as it is particularly timely as the world grapples with the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI 99.5FM.