The Public Lands Project began at the Center for Philosophical Technologies at Arizona State University, during its inaugural Residency in Situated Philosophy, in 2021.
The project invites wilderness lovers to engage with some of their most beloved naturespaces as sites for reflecting on contemporary culture. The website is perpetually in-progress, as wilderness places change, as more and more public land is signed into existence, as governments and publics take greater interest in the past and present of Indigenous peoples, and as more and more humans head outdoors to manage the pressures of contemporary life. As places of deep and dynamic cultural expression, wild spaces tell the story of human endeavors, many of which are in ever-greater conflict with each other. The work here maps that story bit by bit in the places in which it unfolds.