Should the Government Own So Much Land Out West?

[longknife]

Some States Want It Back

Here's my question. If the original intent of the Founders was to unify states under a central government without making them lose their sovereignty, how did this happen? Was it all due to the feds creating new territories over which it ruled until statehood? And why not turn all the land over to the new state? Well, here a partial answer from the article:

“What happened in the late 19th century was, Teddy Roosevelt and others looked out to the West and said, ‘Hey, nobody’s out there yet really using these lands. Let’s start fencing them off and preserving them and keeping people off of them,’ ” Graham said.

Read more @ Some Western States Want Their Land Back and decide for yourselves.

 

[Moonglow]

Maybe they wanted to control the vast mining deposits??