ABSTRACT
In sharp contrast to most regions of the country the Southwest is most appropriately viewed as a large, natural landscape dotted sporadically with nodes of human activity. The principal cause of this pattern of development is the region’s arid character that has historically constrained the base of human activity to the narrow boundaries of mountain valleys and lands contiguous to rivers. With the necessity of maintaining a secure source of water, most historical ventures away from these sources within the region have occurred in connection with highly valuable enterprises such as minerals extraction or transportation centers. A second factor has been the conscious public decision to reserve much of the natural landscape of the Southwest in national and state parks, monuments, forests, and wilderness areas. The motive force has in some instances been commercial (forests for timber and grasslands for grazing), while in others it is directly attributable to scenic preservation intentions alone (national parks). Even more land lies in at least a semiprimitive state including much owned or under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and other federal agencies. The federal government owns approximately 44 percent of Arizona, 36 percent of Colorado, 33 percent of New Mexico, and an extraordinary 66 percent of Utah.
