So … Why BLM Land?
The Forgotten Lands Project began in 2020 with a mission to inspire appreciation, engagement, and protection of BLM-managed public lands through immersive storytelling and collective advocacy.
The BLM — short for the Bureau of Land Management — manages an astonishing 245 million acres across the western US and Alaska.
These landscapes include our deserts, mountains, rivers, sagebrush country, forests, tablelands — even stretches of coastline. And I use the word our because they belong to all of us. No matter your color, creed, or class — even if you’ve never signed your name to a deed — you are a landowner. We are all landowners.
I started this project because with this vast endowment comes a responsibility to steward and protect these lands for future generations. BLM lands face near-constant threats from development, overgrazing, extraction, and the woefully misguided land transfer and privatization movements — both of which aim to sell off these lands to the highest bidder.
Senegalese forester Baba Dioum said it best:
In the end, we will conserve only what we love.
And the only way to love a landscape is to experience it. My hope is these newsletters will give you a vibrant dose of beauty, but will also push and prod and equip many of you to consider a trip to visit these wondrous and vulnerable lands.
What You’ll Get as a Paid Subscriber:
For $5 a month or $50 a year, delivered three Sundays a month:
Field Trips: The heart and soul of the newsletter. Dispatches filled with stories, photography, maps, and deep-dive explorations of BLM landscapes across the West.
Travel Advice: Get exclusive access to my inbox for personalized trip planning, tailored itineraries, and BLM land recommendations.
Conservation: Ways to take action — from advocacy and volunteer opportunities to book and podcast recommendations that highlight public lands across the West.
Founding Subscribers ALSO Get ($150/year):
A signed copy of my book, The Enduring Wild, releasing on June 24, 2025.
A set of 5 illustrated postcards from the book.
Free subscribers will receive occasional ‘Field Trip’ dispatches showcasing a unique landscape in the West.
Your support means everything! 5% of all subscription sales will be donated quarterly to the Conservation Lands Foundation, an organization working tirelessly to protect more BLM lands across the West.
Whether you're new here or have been following along for years, I’m grateful for your support. I hope you’ll join our growing community!
Some Background:
I live with my wife and three kids in Highland Park, a hilly neighborhood in Los Angeles filled with mechanic shops, a rowdy flock of wild parrots, and some of the finest tacos you’ll find in this sprawling metropolis.
Camping was my first gateway to wild places, and my love for its simplicity hasn’t changed much since. I still love wrangling up a tent, sleeping on the ground, building a fire, and, perhaps best of all, that first morning cup of coffee after a night of sporadic sleep. Camping is one of those sublime pursuits that keeps me grounded on this pale-blue-dot we call home.
My work has appeared in High Country News, the Los Angeles Times, Adventure Journal, Longreads, Modern Huntsman, and Backcountry Journal. I have also been a guest on numerous podcasts exploring nature, science, and conservation. My first book, The Enduring Wild: A Journey into California’s Public Lands (Heyday, 2025), is both a love letter to these landscapes and a meditation on belonging and reciprocity.
As founder of the Forgotten Lands Project, I extend this work beyond the page — through keynote addresses on public lands and by guiding camping trips with the USAL Project that connect people directly to these fragile and inspiring places.
It’s nice to meet you.
Josh
