The Origins of a Rebellion: Religion, Land, and a Western Environmental Ethic

Jerrold Long

doi:10.70150/1xs2kg94

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Research ArticleEthics · social science · institutions

The Origins of a Rebellion: Religion, Land, and a Western Environmental Ethic

Jerrold Long

Ethical Review of Social SciencesVolume 1, issue 1Pages 13–2411 January 2025https://doi.org/10.70150/1xs2kg94

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Abstract

This article examines an apparent irony in the environmental ethic of the contemporary American West. Much of the Interior West is dominated by a particular culture that is the product of Mormon settlement in the Salt Lake Valley and subsequent expansion throughout the region. The teachings of early Mormon leaders contained significant threads of what today would be recognized as environmentalism. Despite these teachings, and despite Mormons’ famously strict adherence to other theological tenets, the environmental ethic of the contemporary West is often perceived as anti-environment. Why would this culture, which holds so fast to its other religious teachings — including those teachings that for a time had significant and negative political, legal, and economic effects — reject this aspect of religious doctrine? Using the Mormon experience as a case study, this article argues that the contemporary West’s conservative environmental ethic is a tapestry woven from the interrelationships of legal regimes found and developed during western settlement, the cultural origins and destinations of the settlers, and the physical landscape itself. It is both what settlers found and developed upon arriving in the interior West that led to the region’s contemporary environmental conservatism.

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Licence: CC BY 4.0

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Environmental ethics, American West, public lands, pragmatismJEL K00JEL K32JEL O13JEL Q00JEL Q20JEL Q30JEL Q56

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Idaho Terr. Sess. Laws 267. (1881).
Alexander, T. G. (1998). Sylvester Q. Cannon and the Revival of Environmental Consciousness in the Mormon Community. Environmental History, 3(4), 488-507.
An act to repeal certain provisions of law establishing limits on the amount of land certain religious corporations may hold in any Territory of the United States, 92 Stat. 2483 (1978).
An Act to set apart a certain Tract of Land lying near the Head-waters of the Yellowstone River as a public Park, S. 392, 42nd Congress (1872).
Bassman, R. (1974). The 1897 Organic Act: A Historical Perspective. Natural Resources Lawyer, 7(3), 503-520. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/40922334.
Beal, M. D. (1942). A History of Southeastern Idaho: An Intimate Narrative of Peaceful Conquest by Empire Builders. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers.
Brehm, J. M., & Eisenhauer, B. W. (2006). Environmental Concern in the Mormon Culture Region. Society and Natural Resources, 19(5), 393-410. doi:10.1080/08941920600561041.
Bromley, D. (2008). Volitional Pragmatism. Ecological Economics, 68(1-2), 1-13. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.08.012.
Burcham, R. (Ed.). (1960). Orofino Gold! E.D. Pierce's Own Story. Idaho Yesterdays, 3, p. 2.
DeVoto, B. (1936). Forays and Rebuttals. Boston: Little Brown & Co.
Doctrine and Covenants. (2025). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament?lang=eng.
Drake v. Earhart, 23 P. 541 (Idaho 1890).
Driggs, B. (1926). History of Teton Valley. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers.
Durtschi, A. (n.d.). Life Story of Alfred Durtschi. (I. Walker, Interviewer) Retrieved from https://www.familysearch.org/memories/memory/4048105.
Ferris, W. A., Alter, J. C., & Auerbach, H. S. (1940). Life in the Rocky Mountains, 1830-1835. Rocky Mountain Book Shop.
Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books.
General Revision Act. (1891). 26 Stat. 1095.
Gold in 1860: Newspaper Reports of the Pierce Gold Strike. (1959). Idaho Yesterdays, 3(3), p. 18.
Handley, G. B. (2006). The Desert Blosoms as a Rose: Toward a Western Conservation Aesthetic. In G. B. Handley, T. B. Ball, & S. L. Peck (Eds.), Stewardship and the Creation: LDS Perspectives on the Environment (pp. 61-72). Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center.
Handley, G. B., Ball, T. B., & Peck, S. L. (Eds.). (2006). Stewardship and the Creation: LDS Perspectives on the Environment. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center.
Housley, C. H. (Ed.). (2008). William F. Rigby: The True Aim of a Noble Man. Sandy, Utah: Agreka Books.
Howard, D. C. (2006). Personal History. In K. S. Newcomb (Ed.), Ashton Family Histories (pp. 425-427). Ashton, Idaho: Ashton Archives. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/ashtonfamilyhist00newc.
Hufham, A. (2024, August 20). The feds own millions of acres of public land in Utah. Now the state is suing for control for over half of it. The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2024/08/20/utah-sues-over-federal-ownership/.
Idaho Const. art. XV, §3.
Jackson, R. H. (1978). Mormon Perception and Settlement. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 68(3), 317-334.
James, W. (1907). Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking. Auckland: Floating Press.
Jensen, M. S. (1982). Winter 1948-1949, Driggs, Teton Basin, Idaho. Snake River Echoes, 4.
Joseph Smith Papers (Vols. History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] [addenda], p. 8 [addenda]). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/567.
Joseph Smith Translation Appendix. (2025). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/jst?lang=eng.
Kay, J., & Brown, C. J. (1985). Mormon Beliefs about Land and Natural Resources, 1847-1877. Journal of Historical Geography, 11(3), 253-267. doi:10.1016/S0305-7488(85)80002-5.
King James Bible. (2025). King James Bible Online. Retrieved from https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/. (Original work published 1769).
Leigh, R. (1875/1956). Writings of Richard "Beaver Dick" Leigh of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (F. Edeen, Trans.) University of Wyoming. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.uwyo.edu/luna/servlet/detail/uwydbuwy~166~166~2~323076:Transcript-of-Diary-of-Richard-Leig.
Leshy, J. D., Fischman, R. L., & Krakoff, S. A. (2022). Coggins & Wilkinson's Federal Public Lands and Resources Law, 8th Ed. Foundation Press.
Limerick, P. N. (1987). The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West. New York: Norton.
Malad Valley Irrigating Co. v. Campbell, 18 P. 52 (Idaho 1888).
Meinig, D. W. (1965). The Mormon Cultural Region: Strategies and Patterns in the Geography of the American West, 1847-1964. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 55(2), 191-220. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2561754.
Menand, L. (2002). The Metaphysical Club: A story of ideas in America. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Mining Laws of the Oro Fino District (adopted Jan. 5, 1861). (1959-1960). Idaho Yesterdays, 4, p. 2.
National Forest Management Act of 1976, 16 U.S.C. §1600, et seq. (1976).
Paul, R. W. (1967). The Mormons As a Theme in Western Historical Writing. The Journal of American History, 54(3), 511-523. doi:10.2307/2937404.
Pearl of Great Price. (2025). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp?lang=eng. (Original work published 1851).
Peterson, M. N., & Liu, J. (2008). Impacts of Religion on Environmental Worldviews: The Teton Valley Case. Society & Natural Resources, 21, 704-718. doi:10.1080/08941920802191852
Petty, T., & Rindels, M. (2016, January 6). Oregon Leader Claims Divine Inspiration. Valley News. Retrieved from http://www.vnews.com/Archives/2016/01/US-RanchingStandoff-vn-010616.
Pinchot, G. (1910). The Fight for Conservation. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.
Powell, J. W. (1879). Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States with a more detailed account of Utah with maps, 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
Smith, G. A. (1854). Liberty and Persecution: Conduct of the U.S. Government, Etc. An oration delivered by the Hon. George A. Smith, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake Valley, July 24, 1852. In G. Watt (Ed.), Journal of Discourses (Vol. I, pp. 42-45). Liverpool: F.D. and S.W. Richards. Retrieved from https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3/id/9599/rec/2.
Smith, G. A. (1867). Synopsis of Remarks, By Elder George A Smith, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, General Conference, Oct. 8, 1865. In E. L. G. D. Watt (Ed.), Journal of Discourses (Vol. XI, pp. 176-182). Liverpool: B. Young. Retrieved from https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3/id/4766/rec/12.
Smith, M. B. (1998). The Value of a Tree: Public Debates of John Muir and Gifford Pinchot. Historian, 60, 757-778. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1998.tb01414.x.
Snow, E. R. (1884). Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow. Salt Lake City: Deseret News.
Stene, E. A. (1997). Minidoka Project. Bureau of Reclamation. Retrieved from https://www.usbr.gov/projects/pdf.php?id=137.
The Articles of Faith. (2025). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1?lang=eng.
The Book of Mormon. (2025). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng. (Original work published 1830).
The Bureau of Reclamation. (2025). About Us. Retrieved from https://www.usbr.gov/main/about/fact.html.
Thompson, E. M., & Thompson, W. L. (1982). Beaver Dick: The Honor and the Heartbreak, Errata and Additional Information. Laramie, Wyoming: Jelm Mountain Press.
Toncray v. Budge, 14 Idaho 621, 95 P. 26 (1908).
United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. (2024). 2024 Idaho Annual Statistical Bulletin. Retrieved from https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Idaho/Publications/Annual_Statistical_Bulletin/2024/ID_ANN_2024.pdf.
White, L. (1967). The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis. Science, 155(3767), 1203-1207. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1720120.
Wilbur, C. D. (1881). The Great Valleys and Prairies of Nebraska and the Northwest. Daily Republican Print.
Wilbur, C. D. (1881). The Great Valleys and Prairies of Nebraska and the Northwest. Daily Republican Print.
Woodruff, W. (1983). Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 1833-1898. (S. G. Kenney, Ed.) Midvale, Utah: Signature Books.
Worster, D. (2008). A Passion for Nature: The life of John Muir. Oxford University Press.
Wyeth, N. J., & Young, F. G. (1899). The Correspondence and Journals of Captain Nathaniel J. Wyeth, 1831-6: A Record of Two Expeditions for the Occupation of the Oregon Country, with Maps, Introduction and Index. Eugene: University Press.

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Jerrold Long Corresponding author

University of Idaho

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[reference-1] Idaho Terr. Sess. Laws 267. (1881).

[reference-2] Alexander, T. G. (1998). Sylvester Q. Cannon and the Revival of Environmental Consciousness in the Mormon Community. Environmental History, 3(4), 488-507.

[reference-3] An act to repeal certain provisions of law establishing limits on the amount of land certain religious corporations may hold in any Territory of the United States, 92 Stat. 2483 (1978).

[reference-4] An Act to set apart a certain Tract of Land lying near the Head-waters of the Yellowstone River as a public Park, S. 392, 42nd Congress (1872).

[reference-5] Bassman, R. (1974). The 1897 Organic Act: A Historical Perspective. Natural Resources Lawyer, 7(3), 503-520. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/40922334.

[reference-6] Beal, M. D. (1942). A History of Southeastern Idaho: An Intimate Narrative of Peaceful Conquest by Empire Builders. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers.

[reference-7] Brehm, J. M., & Eisenhauer, B. W. (2006). Environmental Concern in the Mormon Culture Region. Society and Natural Resources, 19(5), 393-410. doi:10.1080/08941920600561041.

[reference-8] Bromley, D. (2008). Volitional Pragmatism. Ecological Economics, 68(1-2), 1-13. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.08.012.

[reference-9] Burcham, R. (Ed.). (1960). Orofino Gold! E.D. Pierce's Own Story. Idaho Yesterdays, 3, p. 2.

[reference-10] DeVoto, B. (1936). Forays and Rebuttals. Boston: Little Brown & Co.

[reference-11] Doctrine and Covenants. (2025). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament?lang=eng.

[reference-12] Drake v. Earhart, 23 P. 541 (Idaho 1890).

[reference-13] Driggs, B. (1926). History of Teton Valley. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers.

[reference-14] Durtschi, A. (n.d.). Life Story of Alfred Durtschi. (I. Walker, Interviewer) Retrieved from https://www.familysearch.org/memories/memory/4048105.

[reference-15] Ferris, W. A., Alter, J. C., & Auerbach, H. S. (1940). Life in the Rocky Mountains, 1830-1835. Rocky Mountain Book Shop.

[reference-16] Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books.

[reference-17] General Revision Act. (1891). 26 Stat. 1095.

[reference-18] Gold in 1860: Newspaper Reports of the Pierce Gold Strike. (1959). Idaho Yesterdays, 3(3), p. 18.

[reference-19] Handley, G. B. (2006). The Desert Blosoms as a Rose: Toward a Western Conservation Aesthetic. In G. B. Handley, T. B. Ball, & S. L. Peck (Eds.), Stewardship and the Creation: LDS Perspectives on the Environment (pp. 61-72). Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center.

[reference-20] Handley, G. B., Ball, T. B., & Peck, S. L. (Eds.). (2006). Stewardship and the Creation: LDS Perspectives on the Environment. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center.

[reference-21] Housley, C. H. (Ed.). (2008). William F. Rigby: The True Aim of a Noble Man. Sandy, Utah: Agreka Books.

[reference-22] Howard, D. C. (2006). Personal History. In K. S. Newcomb (Ed.), Ashton Family Histories (pp. 425-427). Ashton, Idaho: Ashton Archives. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/ashtonfamilyhist00newc.

[reference-23] Hufham, A. (2024, August 20). The feds own millions of acres of public land in Utah. Now the state is suing for control for over half of it. The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2024/08/20/utah-sues-over-federal-ownership/.

[reference-24] Idaho Const. art. XV, §3.

[reference-25] Jackson, R. H. (1978). Mormon Perception and Settlement. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 68(3), 317-334.

[reference-26] James, W. (1907). Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking. Auckland: Floating Press.

[reference-27] Jensen, M. S. (1982). Winter 1948-1949, Driggs, Teton Basin, Idaho. Snake River Echoes, 4.

[reference-28] Joseph Smith Papers (Vols. History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] [addenda], p. 8 [addenda]). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/567.

[reference-29] Joseph Smith Translation Appendix. (2025). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/jst?lang=eng.

[reference-30] Kay, J., & Brown, C. J. (1985). Mormon Beliefs about Land and Natural Resources, 1847-1877. Journal of Historical Geography, 11(3), 253-267. doi:10.1016/S0305-7488(85)80002-5.

[reference-31] King James Bible. (2025). King James Bible Online. Retrieved from https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/. (Original work published 1769).

[reference-32] Leigh, R. (1875/1956). Writings of Richard "Beaver Dick" Leigh of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (F. Edeen, Trans.) University of Wyoming. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.uwyo.edu/luna/servlet/detail/uwydbuwy~166~166~2~323076:Transcript-of-Diary-of-Richard-Leig.

[reference-33] Leshy, J. D., Fischman, R. L., & Krakoff, S. A. (2022). Coggins & Wilkinson's Federal Public Lands and Resources Law, 8th Ed. Foundation Press.

[reference-34] Limerick, P. N. (1987). The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West. New York: Norton.

[reference-35] Malad Valley Irrigating Co. v. Campbell, 18 P. 52 (Idaho 1888).

[reference-36] Meinig, D. W. (1965). The Mormon Cultural Region: Strategies and Patterns in the Geography of the American West, 1847-1964. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 55(2), 191-220. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2561754.

[reference-37] Menand, L. (2002). The Metaphysical Club: A story of ideas in America. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

[reference-38] Mining Laws of the Oro Fino District (adopted Jan. 5, 1861). (1959-1960). Idaho Yesterdays, 4, p. 2.

[reference-39] National Forest Management Act of 1976, 16 U.S.C. §1600, et seq. (1976).

[reference-40] Paul, R. W. (1967). The Mormons As a Theme in Western Historical Writing. The Journal of American History, 54(3), 511-523. doi:10.2307/2937404.

[reference-41] Pearl of Great Price. (2025). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp?lang=eng. (Original work published 1851).

[reference-42] Peterson, M. N., & Liu, J. (2008). Impacts of Religion on Environmental Worldviews: The Teton Valley Case. Society & Natural Resources, 21, 704-718. doi:10.1080/08941920802191852

[reference-43] Petty, T., & Rindels, M. (2016, January 6). Oregon Leader Claims Divine Inspiration. Valley News. Retrieved from http://www.vnews.com/Archives/2016/01/US-RanchingStandoff-vn-010616.

[reference-44] Pinchot, G. (1910). The Fight for Conservation. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.

[reference-45] Powell, J. W. (1879). Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States with a more detailed account of Utah with maps, 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.

[reference-46] Smith, G. A. (1854). Liberty and Persecution: Conduct of the U.S. Government, Etc. An oration delivered by the Hon. George A. Smith, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake Valley, July 24, 1852. In G. Watt (Ed.), Journal of Discourses (Vol. I, pp. 42-45). Liverpool: F.D. and S.W. Richards. Retrieved from https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3/id/9599/rec/2.

[reference-47] Smith, G. A. (1867). Synopsis of Remarks, By Elder George A Smith, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, General Conference, Oct. 8, 1865. In E. L. G. D. Watt (Ed.), Journal of Discourses (Vol. XI, pp. 176-182). Liverpool: B. Young. Retrieved from https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3/id/4766/rec/12.

[reference-48] Smith, M. B. (1998). The Value of a Tree: Public Debates of John Muir and Gifford Pinchot. Historian, 60, 757-778. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1998.tb01414.x.

[reference-49] Snow, E. R. (1884). Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow. Salt Lake City: Deseret News.

[reference-50] Stene, E. A. (1997). Minidoka Project. Bureau of Reclamation. Retrieved from https://www.usbr.gov/projects/pdf.php?id=137.

[reference-51] The Articles of Faith. (2025). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1?lang=eng.

[reference-52] The Book of Mormon. (2025). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng. (Original work published 1830).

[reference-53] The Bureau of Reclamation. (2025). About Us. Retrieved from https://www.usbr.gov/main/about/fact.html.

[reference-54] Thompson, E. M., & Thompson, W. L. (1982). Beaver Dick: The Honor and the Heartbreak, Errata and Additional Information. Laramie, Wyoming: Jelm Mountain Press.

[reference-55] Toncray v. Budge, 14 Idaho 621, 95 P. 26 (1908).

[reference-56] United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. (2024). 2024 Idaho Annual Statistical Bulletin. Retrieved from https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Idaho/Publications/Annual_Statistical_Bulletin/2024/ID_ANN_2024.pdf.

[reference-57] White, L. (1967). The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis. Science, 155(3767), 1203-1207. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1720120.

[reference-58] Wilbur, C. D. (1881). The Great Valleys and Prairies of Nebraska and the Northwest. Daily Republican Print.

[reference-59] Wilbur, C. D. (1881). The Great Valleys and Prairies of Nebraska and the Northwest. Daily Republican Print.

[reference-60] Woodruff, W. (1983). Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 1833-1898. (S. G. Kenney, Ed.) Midvale, Utah: Signature Books.

[reference-61] Worster, D. (2008). A Passion for Nature: The life of John Muir. Oxford University Press.

[reference-62] Wyeth, N. J., & Young, F. G. (1899). The Correspondence and Journals of Captain Nathaniel J. Wyeth, 1831-6: A Record of Two Expeditions for the Occupation of the Oregon Country, with Maps, Introduction and Index. Eugene: University Press.