Yosemite National Park
Conservation in the United States can be traced back to the 19th century with the formation of the first National Park. Conservation
generally refers to the act of consciously and efficiently using land
and/or its natural resources. This can be in the form of setting aside
tracts of land for protection from hunting or urban development, or it
can take the form of using less resources such as metal, water, or coal.
Usually, this process of conservation occurs through or after
legislation on local or national levels is passed.
Conservation in the United States, as a movement, began with the
American sportsmen who came to the realization that wanton waste of
wildlife and their habitat had led to the extinction of some species,
while other species were at risk. John Muir and the Sierra Club started the modern movement, history shows that the Boone and Crockett Club, formed by Theodore Roosevelt, spearheaded conservation in the United States.
While conservation and preservation
both have similar definitions and broad categories, preservation in the
natural and environmental scope refers to the action of keeping areas
the way they are and trying to dissuade the use its resources;
conservation may employ similar methods but does not call for the
diminishing of resource use and rather a responsible way of going about
it. A distinction between Sierra Club and Boone and Crockett Club is that Sierra Club was and is considered a preservationist organization whereas Boone and Crockett Club endorses conservation, simply defined as an "intelligent use of natural resources."
History
The High Peaks Wilderness Area in the 6,000,000-acre (24,000 km2) Adirondack Park is a publicly protected area located in northeast New York.
Philosophy of early American conservation movement
During the 19th century, some Americans developed a deep and abiding passion for nature. The early evolution of the conservation movement
began through both public and private recognition of the relationship
between man and nature often reflected in the great literary and
artistic works of the 19th century. Artists, such as Albert Bierstadt,
painted powerful landscapes of the American West during the mid 19th
century, which were incredibly popular ages representative of the unique
natural wonders of the American frontier. Likewise, in 1860, Frederic Edwin Church
painted "Twilight in the Wilderness", which was an artistic masterpiece
of the era that explored the growing importance of the American
wilderness.
American writers also romanticized and focused upon nature as a
subject matter. However, one of the most notable literary figures upon
the early conservation movement proved to be Henry David Thoreau. Throughout his work, Walden, Thoreau detailed his experiences at the natural setting of Walden Pond
and his deep appreciation for nature. In one instance, he described a
deep grief for a tree that was cut down. Thoreau went on to bemoan the
lack of reverence for the natural world: "I would that our farmers when
they cut down a forest felt some of that awe which the old Romans did
when they came to thin, or let in the light to, a consecrated grove". As he states in Walden, Thoreau "was interested in the preservation" of nature.
In 1860, Henry David Thoreau delivered a speech to the Middlesex
Agricultural Society in Massachusetts; the speech, entitled "The
Succession of Forest Trees", explored forest ecology and encouraged the
agricultural community to plant trees. This speech became one of
Thoreau's "most influential ecological contributions to conservationist thought".
A basis for the philosophy curated by the prominent sportsmen, writers, anthropologists, and politicians came from observing Native Americans and how they interacted with the resources available to them. For example, George Bird Grinnell
was an anthropologist who joined an expedition in 1870 which
encountered different tribes such as the Pawnee for large, extended
periods of time.
He noted their use of every single part of an animal following a hunt
and that they ceremoniously prepared for utilizing and taking any
resource the land was able to provide them.
These observations, fraught with condemning language toward the way
European hunters and sportsmen treated wildlife and resources such as
timber, were published in widely circulated journals and magazines at
the time.
The early conservation movement in the United States was also successful due to the hard work of John Muir. Muir, who is often cited as one of the first American environmentalists, has earned multiple American honors for environmental work. His family home in Martinez, California, is honored as a National Historic Site and so is his childhood home in Portage, Wisconsin, Fountain Lake Farm which is a National Historic Landmark.
He was a former carriage worker who was nearly blinded by an accident
at work. After almost losing his sight, Muir decided to see "America's
natural wonders". Based upon his travels throughout Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Muir wrote a collection of articles for Century magazine, entitled "Studies in the Sierra".
In 1892, John Muir joined forces with the editor of "Century" Magazine,
Robert Underwood Johnson, to establish the Sierra Club, an organization
designed to protect America's natural resources and public parks.
Early Americans recognized the importance of natural resources and the
necessity of wilderness preservation for sustained yield harvesting of
natural resources. In essence, the preservation of wilderness and
landscapes were recognized as critical for future generations and their
continued subsistence in a healthy environment. The foundation of the
conservation movement is grounded during this period between 1850 and
1920. Ultimately, historical trends and cultural mind-sets were united,
which influenced ideas and policy towards the early history of the
conservation movement in the United States.
In considering this foundation for the conservation movement he
helped to lay, members of the Sierra Club have been noting the hypocrisy
of John Muir's conservation efforts in these instances of documented racism through their recent posts. Ross Wakefield writes that although Muir would recognize Native Americans as human, he begrudgingly did so and that institutional racism
impacted his views, influencing his thought that they could never
attain the same level of purity and immaculateness that nature did.
Environmental historians, like Carolyn Merchant, also cite Muir as
someone who was unwilling to extend his efforts of conservation toward
groups of people who were not white. She explains in Shades of Darkness
that on his walking journey from Canada (where he took refuge in order
to escape being drafted as a soldier in the Civil War) down to the Gulf
of Mexico, he often came across groups of African American people and
wrote of them with much disdain and lowliness.
In his accounts and descriptions of the places he trekked through, he
often contrasted the care and reverence that he felt nature deserved
with remarks about black people being devilish and incapable of
completing tasks as efficiently as white people could.
Early American conservation movement
The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem, it will avail us little to solve all others. Theodore RooseveltAmerica had its own conservation movement in the 19th century, most often characterized by George Perkins Marsh, author of Man and Nature. The expedition into northwest Wyoming in 1871 led by F. V. Hayden and accompanied by photographer William Henry Jackson provided the imagery needed to substantiate rumors about the grandeur of the Yellowstone region, and resulted in the creation of Yellowstone National Park, the world's first, in 1872. In 1887, Theodore Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell and other prominent sportsmen of the day formed the first true North American conservation organization, the Boone and Crockett Club, with the purpose of addressing the looming conservation crises of the day. Travels by later U.S. PresidentTheodore Roosevelt through the region around Yellowstone provided the impetus for the creation of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve in 1891. The largest section of the reserve was later renamed Shoshone National Forest, and it is the oldest National Forest in the U.S. But it was not until 1898 when German forester Dr. Carl A. Schenck, on the Biltmore Estate, and Cornell University founded the first two forestry schools, both run by Germans. Bernard Fernow, founder of the forestry schools at Cornell and the University of Toronto, was originally from Prussia (Germany), and he honed his knowledge from Germans who pioneered forestry in India. He introduced Gifford Pinchot, the "father of American forestry", to Brandis and Ribbentrop in Europe. From these men, Pinchot learned the skills and legislative patterns he would later apply to America. Pinchot, in his memoir history Breaking New Ground, credited Brandis especially with helping to form America's conservation laws.
| “ | Conservation means the greatest good to the greatest number for the longest time.—Pinchot | ” |
Pinchot wrote that the principles of conservation were:
- Development: "the use of the natural resources now existing on this continent for the benefit of the people who live here now. There may be just as much waste in neglecting the development and use of certain natural resources as there is in their destruction. … The development of our natural resources and the fullest use of them for the present generation is the first duty of this generation."
- Conservation: "…the prevention of waste in all other directions is a simple matter of good business. The first duty of the human race is to control the earth it lives upon."
- Protection of the public interests: "The natural resources must be developed and preserved for the benefit of the many, and not merely for the profit of a few."
In 1891, Congress passed the Forest Reserve Act, which allowed the
President of the United States to set aside forest lands on public
domain.
A decade after the Forest Reserve Act, presidents Harrison, Cleveland,
and McKinley had transferred approximately 50,000,000 acres (200,000 km2) into the forest reserve system.
However, President Theodore Roosevelt is credited with the
institutionalization of the conservation movement in the United States.
For President Roosevelt, the conservation movement was not about the preservation of nature simply for nature itself.
After his experiences traveling as an enthusiastic, zealous hunter,
Roosevelt became convinced of "the need for measures to protect the game
species from further destruction and eventual extinction".
President Roosevelt recognized the necessity of carefully managing
America's natural resources. According to Roosevelt, "We are prone to
speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not
so".
Nonetheless, Roosevelt believed that conservation of America's natural
resources was for the successful management and continued sustain yield
harvesting of these resources in the future for the benefit and
enjoyment of the American people. Roosevelt took several major steps to
further his conservation goals.In 1902, Roosevelt signed the National
Reclamation Act, which allowed for the management and settlement of a
large tract of barren land.
Then, in 1905, President Roosevelt helped to create the United States
Forest Service and then appointed respected forester, Gifford Pinchot,
as the first head of the agency.
By the end of his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt, in partnership with
Gifford Pinchot, had successfully increased the number of national parks
as well as added area to existing forest reserves.
The legacy of his actions as president at the turn of the
twentieth century include estimated 230 million acres of land as public
lands, through his aforementioned establishment of the United States
Forest Service as well as dozens of national forests, national parks,
and bird reserves, in addition to 4 game preserves.
This legacy, though establishing what many consider the root of modern
conservationism, remained within the hands of powerful men of white
European heritage for years to come, often excluding the interests of
Native Americans and other demographics within the United States.
Despite these advancements, the American conservation movement
did have difficulties. In the early 1900s the conservation movement in
America was split into two main groups: conservationists, like Pinchot
and Roosevelt, who were utilitarian foresters and natural rights
advocates who wanted to protect forests "for the greater good for the
greatest length", and preservationists, such as John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club.
Important differences separated conservationists like Roosevelt and
Pinchot from preservationists like Muir. As a preservationist, Muir
envisioned the maintenance of pristine natural environments where any
development was banned.
Whereas conservationists wanted regulated use of forest lands for both
public activities and commercial endeavors, preservationists wanted
forest to be preserved for natural beauty, scientific study and
recreation. The differences continue to the modern era, with sustainable
harvest and multiple-use the major focus of the U.S. Forest Service and recreation emphasized by the National Park Service.
Although national parks can logistically fall under the category of preservation sites, certain marked National Conservation Area
sites fall near or within proximity of national parks and share a
common land history. The United States government began driving groups
of Native American peoples out of popularly visited areas like Yellowstone around the late 1800s once they deemed them a conflict to tourists. Battles between federal troops and the Nez Perce tribe soon ensued, and eventually the tribe was driven out of the area. Conservation history fails to incorporate details like this when talking about the beginnings and context of the movement.
Modern American conservation movement
In 1956 the US Post Office began issuing postage stamps depicting wildlife to emphasize the importance of wildlife conservation in America.
By the mid-twentieth century, conservation efforts continued to gain
ground with the creation and implementation of federal legislation aimed
at protecting wilderness, natural resources, and wildlife. This trend
on the part of the federal government towards a more protection minded
approach to the environment began with the passage of the Federal Water
Pollution Act in 1948 and the Air Pollution Control Act in 1955.
While neither of these regulations themselves served to impose tight
restrictions on either water or air pollution, they lay the groundwork
for what would later become the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act,
as well as serving to demonstrate the recognition on the part of the
federal government of the need to codify regulations geared towards
environmental protection.
Notable Events
Silent Spring
The 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring represented a major watershed moment in American conservation.
In exposing the individual dangers presented to both people and nature
through the use of chemical pesticides, Carson inspired an environmental
revolution, helping to root the modern conservation movement in a
scientific foundation. It would take another decade, however, before the use of DDT was banned in the United States.
A Wave of Legislation
Beginning in the late 1960s, the conservation movement scored a
number of victories with the creation and implementation of a variety of
environmental regulations aimed at the protection of wildlife, wild
lands, and natural resources. In 1968 the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed, followed two years later by the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA"), as well as the celebration of the inaugural Earth Day. The momentum carried on into 1972 when the Clean Water Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, and the Endangered Species Act were passed. Moreover, 1972 saw the banning of DDT by the EPA.
The Wilderness Act
On 3 September 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act of 1964 into law.
This milestone was achieved by the efforts of environmental
conservationists dedicated to the protection of some of the wildest
lands in the United States. Chief among these were Howard Zahniser and Olaus Murie and Mardy Murie,
who dedicated much of their lives and their work to the protection and
conservation of wild lands. By 1950 both Zanhiser and Olaus Murie were
working for the Wilderness Society, Zahinser as Executive Secretary in
Washington DC, and Olaus as President from his ranch in Moose, WY (now
home to the Murie Center).
From their positions at Wilderness Society, both men continued to work
to organize and build broad-based support for the creation and
protection of wilderness areas within the United States.
Zahniser felt strongly that Congress ought to designate wilderness
areas, as opposed to leaving it up to Agency discretion, and, in 1955,
began working to convince members of Congress to support a bill that
would establish a national wilderness preservation system.
Meanwhile, in 1956, Olaus and Mardy Murie embarked upon an expedition
to the upper Sheenjek River on the south slope of the Brooks Range in
Alaska, which would galvanize them to campaign for the protection of the
area as a wildlife refuge. The result of these efforts was the protection of 8 million acres as the Arctic National Wildlife Range, renamed the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge when it was expanded to 19 million acres in 1980.
Moreover, the mission underlying the protection of ANWR, namely the
preservation of an entire ecological system, became the underlying
motivation for the preservation of other large tracts of wild lands.
While neither Zahniser nor Olaus Murie would live to see the
Wilderness Act signed by President Johnson, it is unlikely that, without
their tireless efforts, the preservation movement would have been able
to achieve so huge a victory. On 3 September 1964, Mardy Murie stood
proudly next to President Johnson in the Rose Garden at the White House
and bore witness to the making of history, and the achievement of the
very thing for which Zahniser and Olaus had campaigned so ardently.
Into the Twenty-First Century
Ultimately, the modern conservation movement in the United States
continues to strive for the delicate balance between the successful
management of society's industrial progress while still preserving the
integrity of the natural environment that sustains humanity.
In a large part, today's conservation movement in the United States is
a joint effort of individuals, grassroots organizations,
nongovernmental organizations, learning institutions, and various
government agencies, such as the United States Forest Service.
For the modern era, the U.S. Forest Service has noted three
important aspects of the conservation movement: the climate change,
water issues, and the education of the public on conservation of the
natural environment, especially among children.
In regards to climate change, the U.S. Forest Service has undertaken a
twenty-year research project to develop ways to counteract issues
surrounding climate change.
However, some small steps have been taken regarding climate change. As
rising greenhouse gases contribute to global warming, reforestation
projects are seeking to counteract rising carbon emissions. In Oregon,
the Department of Forestry has developed a small reforestation program
in which landowners can lease their land for one hundred years to grow
trees. In turn, these trees offset carbon emissions from power
companies.
Moreover, reforestation projects have other benefits: reforested areas
serve as a natural filter of agricultural fertilizers even as new
wildlife habitats are created.
Reforested land can also contribute to the local economy as rural
landowners also distribute hunting leases during the years between
harvests.
In essence, projects, such as reforestation, create a viable
market of eco-friendly services mutually beneficial to landowners,
businesses and society, and most importantly, the environment.
Nonetheless, such creative plans will be necessary in the near future as
the United States struggles to maintain a positive balance between
society and the finite natural resources of the nation. Ultimately,
through dedicated research, eco-friendly practices of land management,
and efforts to educate the public regarding the necessity of
conservation, those individuals dedicated to American conservation seek
to preserve the nation's natural resources.
Twenty-First Century Resource Protection
The increased consumption of many natural resources has sparked
the need for protection. Many of these resources were barely touched
less than half a century ago but have been drained in several
situations. One of these resources, water, is key to survival of almost
all life but is being used quicker than it is replenished in many states
within the United States. This has created the need for greater
conservation which has been met by new techniques and technologies for
both reducing the amount of water being used and increasing how
efficiently it is being used.
Some of these methods are as simple as replacing the fixtures in
government buildings and offering rebates to citizens, but are as
complex as growing genetically engineered food crops so that farmers can
consume less water for use on them.
Another key resource that has been met with new legislation is the land
that is used to grow the crops for farms. One fairly new United States
government policy, the Farmland Protection Policy Act, is designed in
order to protect this resource from being over consumed by the
government. It does this by ensuring that any entity, both federal and
non-federal, that uses government assistance such as acquiring or
disposing of land, providing financing or loans, managing property,
providing technical assistance, cannot convert agricultural land into
land that is permanently used for other purposes if it can be avoided.
If the overuse of these resources is not mediated, the eventual result
would create the loss of another key resource for survival. That is, if
either land for agriculture or water for the land and the people who
inhabit it becomes insufficient, the population in the United States
would begin to run out of food. Not only would cash crops of plants
become insufficient to supply people, it would also become insufficient
to feed the livestock and animals that also depend on plants that are
grown on agricultural land. Because of this, the need for conservation
is greater than ever, especially when current efforts have only been
able to slow the gradual depletion of these two key resources while
increased populations create the need for higher consumption.
Ecotourism
Ecotourists viewing a glacier.
The goal of ecotourism
is to attract appreciation and attention to specific sites, which may
include protected land for conservation, while minimizing the impact
that tourism has on the land. It is a form of conservation because the
area may be protected while tourists or businesses are also using the
land for lodging or other types of accommodations that utilize resources
in any way. This movement has gained international traction and
recognition. The United Nations declared 2002 the International Year of Ecotourism.
Ecotourism seeks to balance an interest and appreciation of protected
lands with a commitment to preserving them. A study conducted by the
University of Georgia reported that environmentalists should team up
with ecotourists in order to have the best chance to preserve fragile
ecosystems and lands.
Tourism provides economic incentives to conserve lands, for if
protected lands are seen as revenue-generating tourist destinations,
there is monetary reason to ensure their conservation. Also, rather than
simply relying on environmental messaging, ecotourism allows
conservationists to pursue a leisurely and economic message.
Current Conservation Developments & Issues
Social Issues and Threats to Access
John Muir
At a 2014 event held at UCLA centered upon environmental figures like
John Muir, a few historians and writers noted that the movements for
conservation and preservation of the environment maintained a foundation
in "economic privilege and abundant leisure time of the upper class."
Jon Christensen, a historian of UCLA's Institute of Environment and
Sustainability, notes among the other critics at the event that writings
and actions from conservationists at the turn of the twentieth century
have created a legacy for the movement as one of an older white
demographic.
General concern among the current conservation movement deals
with the accessibility of conserved/protected areas as well as the
movement itself to communities of color especially. Richard
White, a historian at Stanford University, makes the case that
viewpoints of early conservationists came from an Anglo-Saxon, biblical
point of view and that this is reflected in the current demographics of
visitors to national parks and protected areas.
At the same time, recent polls suggest that the Latino community in
California tends to possess more environmental attitudes when it comes
to voting than perceived by the general public. A highly cited historian of Southern California, D. J. Waldie,
posits that conservation for the purpose of public enjoyment is usually
geared for places inaccessible to minority demographics, such as skiing
or backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas.
Instead, he puts forth that the conservation areas of importance for
these communities are local bodies of water or small mountain ranges,
urban parks, and even their own backyards.
Events
Past Events
- Extinction of the Passenger pigeon
- Wholesale hunting of American Bison
Current Events
Enforcement
Game wardens or conservation officers are employed to protect wildlife and natural areas.
- Florida Department of Environmental Protection
- Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries - Enforcement Division
- Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police
- Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
- Michigan Conservation Officers and Michigan Department of Natural Resources (Wildlife Division)
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police
- Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
Projects
Political
On
January 20, 2017, a bill was introduced to congress that aimed to roll
back regulations on oil and gas drilling in National Parks. The bill
would nullify the “General Provisions and Non-Federal Oil and Gas
Rights” rule passed in November 2016, and this would remove protections
to National Park lands and resources.
On February 28, 2017, Donald Trump signed an executive order to review the Clean Water Rule, a bill he and Scott Pruitt have pledged to eliminate since he took office. The Clean Water rule was enacted in 2015 and extended federal protection to millions of acres of lakes, rivers, and wetlands.
On March 16, 2017, Donald Trump released his preliminary budget
proposal for 2018 discretionary spending. These budget proposals
featured cuts to both the EPA and the Department of Interior.
The 12% decrease for the Department of Interior is removing spending
from land acquisition costs associated with the preservation and
expansion of National Parks. The budget also completely defunded
National Heritage Areas. Funding to National Heritage Areas is used in
part to support tribal protection officers and provides grants to
underrepresented communities, ones who have already been putting
conservation in practice. The proposed budget would cut the staff of the
Environmental Protection Agency by 3,200 and reduce their budget by $2.6 billion annually.
Trump's promise to eliminate 2 federal regulations for every new
regulation proposed may impact lands set aside for conservation.
The repeal of old regulations will put currently conserved land at
risk: future perceived threats to conserved lands and resources might
not be able to be stopped since the erasure of regulation that sought to
combat past threats to conserved lands may be eliminated.
Ryan Zinke, Trump's appointed Secretary of the Interior, moved to
reverse federal regulation that prohibits hunters from using lead
ammunition in National Parks.
Key Figures
Some of the more notable American conservationists include:
- Theodore Roosevelt, former President of the United States and founder of the Boone and Crockett Club
- Ansel Adams, best known for his black and white photographs of Yosemite National Park
- Aldo Leopold, influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness preservation
- George Perkins Marsh
- Rachel Carson
- John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club a major conservation organization
- Wendell Berry
- John Wesley Powell
- John Burroughs
