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Washington loves its public lands — perhaps a little too much

caption: A walking trail in English Camp, San Juan Island National Historical Park on San Juan Island.
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A walking trail in English Camp, San Juan Island National Historical Park on San Juan Island.
KUOW Photo/Kara McDermott

There are 19.8 million acres of public land in Washington. That's larger than nearly 10 U.S. states — and that's just the land owned by the state and federal government.

So how did we end up with so much public land? And do we love it too much?

Soundside host Libby Denkmann spoke to John Leshy, emeritus professor of law at the University of California Hastings, and author of the new book Our Common Ground: A history of America's public lands.

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