The Great Hijacking of ‘Multiple Use’

A Promise of Balance. A System of Control. The Quiet Undoing of Public Lands.

There’s a phrase you’ll hear a lot if you start digging into public land policy. It sounds reasonable. Even democratic. The phrase is “multiple use.”

It shows up in agency mission statements, forest management plans, and congressional testimony. On paper, it means exactly what it says: public lands should support a variety of uses. Timber, grazing, recreation, wildlife, minerals, watershed protection – none more important than the others. Just a big shared table where every interest gets a seat.

That was the idea.

But that’s not how it works anymore.

Today, “multiple use” has become a rubber stamp for whatever industry wants. It gets used to justify new drilling leases, aggressive clearcuts, expanded grazing allotments, and road-building projects. It’s the go-to justification for turning wild places into work sites – while recreation, conservation, and Indigenous access get treated like afterthoughts.

You can fish the stream, if the cattle haven’t fouled the waters and trampled the banks.

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