On June 12, 1960, Congress passed the Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act, designed to prevent the obliteration of national forests by logging and water reclamation projects. This law officially mandated the management of national forests to "best meet the needs of the American people." The forests were to be used not primarily for economic gain, but for a balanced combination of "outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, and wildlife and fish purposes."

The Multiple Use Act emerged from a strong history of diverse uses of the federal reserves. Early settlers assumed access to and free use of public lands. The text of the Sundry Civil Act of 1897 mandated that no public forest reservation was to be established except to improve and protect forests and water flow. The act also provided for free use of timber and stone and of all reservation waters by miners and residents...