Who Owns America's Wild Places? Public Lands and the Fight for Truth

About this episode

The episode discusses the significance of America's public lands and the ongoing fight for their future.

Welcome to Open Container, where today we're discussing one of the defining features of the American experience: our public lands. Host Doug Schnitzspahn kicks things off with a personal reflection on how these wild places are woven into our national identity and the critical roles they play, not just as recreation spaces, but as battlegrounds for conservation, resource extraction, and cultural connection. Joining Doug is Chris Keyes, former editor in chief of Outside magazine and founder of RE:PUBLIC, a new non-profit newsroom dedicated to covering the politics, people, and future of America's public lands. Together, they explore what makes the American public lands system unique in the world, how it’s managed, and why it stirs such passionate, bipartisan support. From the legacy of Indigenous stewardship to the modern pressures of population and politics, the episode asks: Who really owns America's wild places, and how do we ensure their future? 00:00 Hope in Public Lands 04:35 "Finding Healing on the Road" 07:34 Freedom of Camping on Public Lands 12:58 Bipartisan Support for Public Land Conservation 13:53 Legacy of American Public Lands 19:30 Journalism's Advertising…

People in this episode

Host: Doug Schnitzspahn

Guest: Chris Keyes

Topics covered

• public lands
• conservation
• cultural connection
• bipartisan support
• Indigenous stewardship
• journalism

Keywords

• public lands
• conservation
• bipartisan support
• Indigenous stewardship
• journalism
• resource extraction

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Outside magazine, RE:PUBLIC

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