A Primer on the Wise Use and Home Rule Movements.docx -...

Daniels - A Primer on the Wise Use and Home Rule Movements
Intro

wise use and home rule movements = social forces that shape the rhetorical and
political landscape in natural resource management
The 1994 Congressional Elections

mid-term elections of 1994 = republican landslide
o
no rep.s running for re-election in House or Senate lost their seats
o
first rep majority in the House since 1952-54
o
first re-election defeat for the Speaker of the House since 1860

this couldn't have occurred w/o red candidates success in gaining votes from
independents and moderate dem.s
o
significant cross-over voting occurred in all regions of the country
o
many of the 1994 rep voters were not long-time rep.s
Conservatives

conservative ideology
o
contend that gov has not functioned well
o
root cause = it has grown too large, too expensive, and too intrusive

conservative position = any large gov is fundamentally flawed, independent of the
individuals in place at any moment
o
these views personified by Rush Limbaugh - radio
personality/author

there are distinct ideological positions within broader conservatism
o
most notable = difference between religious and fiscal
conservatives
o
resource management:

1) a focus on strict constitutionality

2) a focus on private property rights

share a common theme: identify a root
value or position from which them can
critique the status quo and argue for
social change


grounded in a deeply
seated belief that America
has moved away from
some of the core values
that made it great
Strict Constitutionalists and the Home Rule Movement

argues that the gov has outgrown the limited role that the founding fathers saw for
it
o
notable ex: extensive fed land ownership

fav passage of the constitution: article 1 section 8
o
contends limits the fed gov's land-owing ability to post offices,
roads, and military facilities

basis for Home Rule movement
o
argues that rather then the fed gov owning and controlling large
areas of the rural west, the legitimate authorities are either the states
or counties
o
discomfort w/ fed policies = long tradition in west states