The wise use movement was developed in the late 1980s as a response to the environmental movement and increasing government regulation. A grassroots environmental movement came about because of perceived impotence of federal regulatory agencies to either regulate the continuing flow of untested toxics into the environment or clean up the massive mountain of accumulating waste through the Superfund law. The wise use movement has begun to address these same issues, but basically from a financial standpoint.

Recognizing that cleanup is far more costly than anticipated and persisting in the belief that public land should be available for business use, the wise use movement has begun to garner a growing constituency. One of the major new themes, for example, is that low exposures to chemicals and radiation are not harmful to humans or ecosystems, or at least not harmful enough to warrant the billions...