Learning from the past to preserve the future of public lands
Welcome to the Public Lands History Center!
Established in 2007, the award-winning Public Lands History Center (PLHC) integrates research, education, and outreach in the best tradition of a land-grant university. Projects with National Parks and other public land management agencies enlist faculty, graduate students, and other researchers to conduct historical research that directly informs current resource management challenges. Our American West Program seeks to expose audiences to significant research, dynamic speakers, narratives of change and contestation, and the excitement of interdisciplinary dialogue on human-environment issues in the West. The PLHC gets students out of the classroom and into the field to get the experience and connections they need for fulfilling careers after graduation.
Recent News
Researcher Tim Johansen on Working with the Public Lands History Center
The following is written by Tim Johansen, written in reflection of his time spent working with the PLHC and on his work with the Shenandoah National Park Project: After completing my Masters in American History at Colorado State University, I was fortunate enough to become part of this project for the PLHC and Shenandoah NP. […]
Thank the Bankers? Michael Rosser, Co-Author of “A History of Mortgage Banking in the West” Interviewed on Devil’s Advocate TV Show
Mike Rosser (CSU class of 1964) and Diane Sanders (CSU class of 2014) are co-authors of the recent book A History of Mortgage Banking in the West: Financing America’s Dreams (University Press of Colorado 2017). The book began as a PLHC research project. In this TV clip, Mike explains why unheralded bankers should be remembered as key […]
Marijuana on Public Lands: A Short History
Nick Johnson is a historian based in Longmont, Colorado. He holds a master’s degree in American History from Colorado State University and is the author of Grass Roots: A History of Cannabis in the American West(Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2017). Nick will be at Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins this Friday 10/20 at 6 pm […]