james watt thought all conservationists were pagan. that it became more of a religious divide as well as a polical divide. the reagan administration used the sagebrush rebellion to turn the people against the federal government. ...an agency in washington can tell you exactly what you can or can't do with your land in the name of environmentalism, which is the greatest threat in 200 years. and people embraced it with incredible fervor. it's the bureaucrats forcing regulations down on us. we're not gonna back down, we're not gonna go away, and we will win this battle. well, it turned out the sagebrush rebellion, including the pitchforks which they all used to wave on television, was bought and paid for by the big extractive companies. the sagebrush rebellion became a facade for other interests working behind the scenes to gn accesso the reurces on pubc land. at the same time, there was this massive rush by the oil and gas companies to open public lands. interior secretary james watt allowed the land to be leased at "fire sale" prices. t