1. What political, environmental, and/or social changes did commercial agriculture bring to the American West?
2. What was the federal government's role in the development of the West in the 20th century?
3. How and why were the Sunbelt cities created and what impact did they have on the environment?
4. Why did the environmental movement have such huge support in the American West? Does it still?
5. Why did the counterculture movement of the 1960s begin in the American West? Why did the grunge movement of the 1980s begin in the West?
6. Wounded Knee 1973. Was it warranted? Would you consider members of the American Indian Movement to be domestic terrorists or patriots and why?
7. Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix. Is it reasonable to encourage growth in arid areas given what we now know about aquifers and water shortages? Why or why not?