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The Federal Government owns or controls vast parts of the American West. In some cases, it can be as much as nine of ten acres; 90% (as in parts of Nevada). New Mexico generally has about 45% of its area as Federal Land. But in selected areas, including the environs of Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratories, the proportion again becomes quite large. The Federal presence was insignificant until the 1940s when, of course, the Manhattan Project scientists came to Los Alamos to build the Bomb. And build it they did - the first tests were to the south, but mishaps with enriched uranium cost lives even at Los Alamos. This usurpation of land is both symbolic and real; it produces an ongoing dissent from Native Americans and Hispanics who had prior claims on this land. Yet the "No Trespassing" signs proliferate even today.
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