Commentary: How the US came to protect the natural world — and exploit it at the same time

You might come across the remnants of a tramway or a pile of mine tailings or a rusted tank — if you know where to look in Death Valley National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias Park and Preserve in Alaska, Glacier Peak Wilderness in Washington’s Cascade Mountains or Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.

It can be startling to discover the artifacts of industrial activity in an otherwise tranquil natural scene. Miles inside a national park, a designated wilderness or some other conservation area, the remnants of mining claims are everywhere.

With resource development on public lands once again a matter of national debate, it has become increasingly important to ask: How did protected places