Hastings Law Professor, John Leshy has had a long career working on legal cases affecting public lands and provides some interesting insight into public lands. He worked in the Justice Department and at the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), where he got involved in public land issues. Professor Leshy notes that between 1865-1900, the ideas and the creation of public lands were a unifying healing force, possibly from the animosity of the Civil War. The creation of public lands was a bipartisan effort that both Democrats and Republicans supported. These public lands were created in trust to protect water supplies and water sources for our future.