Ketcham spent years reporting on the 450 million acres the federal government holds in the West and came back angry. The core of it is livestock grazing on public land — how few operators there are, how little they pay, what it does to streams and soil, and how much killing of coyotes, wolves, prairie dogs, and bears is done by a federal agency on their behalf. He also goes after the Forest Service’s timber math, oil and gas leasing, and the environmental groups he thinks have gone quiet in exchange for access. It’s a polemic and it doesn’t pretend otherwise, and the reporting is documented down to the receipt. It’s angry book that sparked anger in me—and frustration because I don’t know how to solve the problems. Still, I’d rather know than not.