In recent times several "creation myths" have gained currency about how the United States government came to own and manage--for broad, mostly protective purposes--nearly one-third of the nation's land. Controversies such as President Trump's shrinking the boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments and the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon by a ragtag militia group protesting U.S. ownership...