Lecture 2: Environmental History in the United States
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Importance of Studying Environmental History
Key Time Periods in Environmental History
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US Environmental Policy: 1780’s – late 1800’s
Conservation Movement: late 1800’s – early 1900’s
The Dust Bowl and the “New Deal”: 1930’s and 1940’s
The Chemical/Nuclear Revolution: 1950’s
Environmental Movement 1960’s – 1970’s
▪ Why is Spring so Silent?
▪ Environmental Legislation
▪ Earth Day
 Current mindset about environmental issues?
▪ Student exercise
To understand the key moments and important
figures within environmental history
 To distinguish between “conservation” and
“environmental” perspectives and to examine how
these concepts have influenced US policy
 To learn about the Environmental Movement and
the resulting legislation
 To construct a recent environmental history
timeline and to analyze the current environmental
political climate
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Environmental US history is an important topic for
several reasons:
 It clearly mirrors our social paradigms and gives us a
perspective on how we have progressed as a society
 It provides a foundation for understanding the current
environmental situation and for understanding the
underpinnings of US environmental policy
 It provides insight into the human psyche, and it helps us
understand philosophically our connections with the
“natural” world
 It may help provide insight into future environmental
crises and into the human reactions to said crises
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Many colleges and universities teach entire courses on environmental
history. Some have complete degree programs in environmental history.
There are many environmental historians in academia. How can I, then,
effectively condense such an important and wide-breadth topic into only
one lecture? I can’t, really. However, this lecture will provide a general
overview of some of the key events and figures that have influenced our
environmental perspectives. What do I expect for you to get from this
lecture?
 Most historians would balk if all we did is memorize names and dates.
Hopefully I will go beyond that and explain the reasoning behind why these
events and why these people are so important. With this being said, I still
would like for you to know who these people are and the times when
important things happened.
 I want you to be able to synthesize the events and occurrences and to put
them within a US historical context
 Lastly I would like for you to evaluate your own environmental experiences
within the last couple decades and create a recent environmental timeline for
the 1980’s - present
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I am starting this lecture with the birth of our
Nation. By that I don’t mean to imply that there
were not any significant human-environmental
interactions prior to. However, in the interest of
time I would like to focus on the history of US
environmental policy. The majority of information
for this part of the lecture is derived from Merchant
(2002), The Columbia Guide to American
Environmental History, published by Columbia
University Press, NY.
www.vonsworks.com/Wash%20Addresses%20the%20Tr...
Review the Continental Congress from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Congress
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During this time period the US territory greatly
expanded from Coast to Coast.
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1803: Louisiana Purchase from France
1819: Gulf of Mexico including Florida from Spain
1845: Annexation of Texas from Mexico (and Texas)
1846: Oregon Treaty from England
1853: Gadsden Purchase (southern Arizona and New
Mexico) from Mexico
All this land, from Sea to Shining Sea, within only
three generations (Merchant, 2002)!!
 What happened to all this “new” land?
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Sell it to the people!
From 1785 – late 1800’s there was a great change in
land ownership. The US Government sold
thousands of acres.
 There was a great changeover from public land to private.
 The American West was “settled”.
 The Railroads brought in tons of people, and the land was
claimed by homesteaders, logging companies, mining
companies, and ranchers
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After the Revolutionary War, there was an incentive
by the Continental Congress to convert all the land
west of the Appalachians into a great “public
domain to be parceled out to citizens” (Merchant,
2002).
John Trumbull's (June 6, 1756 – November 10, 1843) famous painting
depicts the signing of the Declaration.
http://www.americanrevolution.com/ContinentalCongress.jpg
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The Confederation of Congress provided for the
“vast public domain” to be converted into private
property (Merchant, 2002)
 Federal Surveyors superimposed a grid consisting of East-
West and North-South lines at 1 mile intervals. These lines
divided the landscape into townships, which were 6 square
miles. Each township was further subdivided into 36
sections.
▪ The primary goal was to raise money to pay off War debt
 This laid the foundation for the US Land Policy until the
Homestead Act of 1864 (Wikipedia)
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1 mi2 = 640 acres
SOURCE: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/images/page2_large.gif
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At first, the price of public land was pretty
expensive
 In 1785 the cost was $1/acre, but a person had to
buy at a minimum one whole section (640 acres).
 Only the most wealthy (e.g. Easterners) could
afford this price.
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Land Act of 1796 actually increased the price
to $2/acre and increased the minimum
purchase to 5760 acres
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With the election of Thomas
Jefferson, a more democratic
government ensued.
 Harrison Land Act 1804: reduced
the minimum land area a person
needed to purchase to 120 acres
(in Ohio).
▪ Still $2/acre
 Later in 1804 Congress decreased
the price to $1.64/acre and
minimum land area to 160 acres
 1820 = the price dropped again to
$1.25/acre and the minimum was
reduced to 80 acres
http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/Amer_pol_hist/fi/00000051.jpg
From Merchant (2002)
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What about the not-so-affluent people during this time?
Many people just moved to an area on public land, cleared the land, built
houses and fences, farmed, and brought in livestock. All of this occurred
without purchasing the land (at first). These people were referred to as
“squatters”. Today these people would be shot and arrested (in that
order – interjecting humor). But back in the Day, the US Government
actually afforded squatters legal protection
Preemption Act of 1841 (a.k.a. “Log Cabin Law”): Legalized squatting
 US Citizens that were heads of households, widows, or single men over the
age of 21 could own land provided:
▪ They lived on the land for 14 months or longer
▪ They paid $1.25 per acre and purchased at least 160 acres
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During the latter half of the Nineteenth
Century, the Government desired to sell off
much of the remaining unsettled land.
The method for doing this was to make the
land available at almost no cost to anyone
who wanted it and agreed to settle/develop.
This was accomplished through the
Homestead Act of 1862
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The Homestead Act greatly contributed to the conversion of public land into private land
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One quarter of a section of a township (160 acres) of the undeveloped American West could be
purchased by any family head or single person over the age of 21 provided:
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Most of the fertile land had already been occupied by the time this Act was initiated
Only the drier, less-fertile areas were available
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Most of this land was too arid to develop any significant cultivation.
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They live on the land for 5 years for the purpose of “settlement and cultivation” (Merchant, 2002).
They build a house
They paid an entry cost of $10
People didn’t understand the concept of “biomes” and that you can’t plant grassland crops (wheat, corn, rice,
barley, etc.) in a semi-arid or arid climate.
160 acres wasn’t enough to support livestock in the Arid West; more land was needed
The West was getting progressively more dry. Evidence from Hohokam Indian archeology suggests that there
was sufficient moisture (with the use of irrigation) to develop large-scale agriculture. It was much wetter then
(300 – 900 AD). Since that time the climate has become drier, and there were great droughts in the Great Plains
during the mid to late 1800’s (Merchant, 2002).
There were many abuses of the Homestead Act
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Private individuals working under the guise of ranching operations would “settle” land only to
control resources, such as water, for said ranchers. Range wars ensued (see a million different
Western movies).
Similarly, mining companies and logging companies would have a person claim land through the HA
1862 under the pretense of establishing a home/farm. A makeshift house would be built, but it is was
usually only a façade. This homestead “claim” was a means through which the mining and logging
companies could acquire more land and control the resources (Merchant, 2002).
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Besides the Homestead Act, there were several other Acts
put forth to “settle” the American West.
Again, during this time you see a major change over from
public land to private in a frenzied land grab.
Not only where private citizens acquiring land, but also
logging companies, mining companies, and ranchers were
staking claims to large parcels.
This will set the stage for the “Conservation Movement”, and
ultimately the “Environmental Movement” and theses
actions will have a significant legacy on modern US
Environmental Policy
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Mining Act 1872: “All valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the US shall be free
and open to explore and purchase”, as quoted within Merchant (2002).
Timber Culture Act 1873: anyone who planted 40 acres of trees would be given an
additional 160 acres of land
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Desert Land Act 1877: the US Government would give 640 acres of arid or semi-arid land
to anyone who would promise to pay $1.25 per acre and promise to irrigate the land for a
minimum of 3 years.
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Note: by 1873 most of the arable land had already been occupied. The land mentioned in the TCA
1873 was the arid leftovers. People once again (private and government) either paid no heed to a
“biome” concept or just didn’t realize that you can’t grow trees in a semi-arid or arid environment.
Question: How much water was available for irrigation in the arid/semi-arid regions of the
Southwest? Probably not a whole lot.
Timber and Stone Act 1878: this was an attempt to sell the public land that was unfit for
agriculture to logging and mining companies or anyone else who wanted it. The Act set a
price of $2.50/acre in increments of 160 acre blocks.
Free Timber Act 1878: this Act gave the right for people to cut timber on public lands
reserved for mineral use. This timber was to be used in the construction of buildings
(homes, etc.)
Railroads: In addition the development of railroads brought in volumes of immigrants from
the East
During the latter half of the Nineteenth century, a
majority of the US was developed.
 The West was seen as vast, wild, and limitless.
There were no restrictions put forth on its
development or exploitation.
 Poor land husbandry was the rule and not the
exception
 The land and the ecosystems were being pressed
like never before.
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Take for example the American Buffalo, which were hunted
to the brink of extinction.
Before European colonization, buffalo and bison numbered
in the millions. By the mid to late 1800’s there were only a
few hundred left due to over-hunting (Wikipedia)
The near extermination of the buffalo was due to the
importation of non-native livestock, such as cattle and
sheep, to clear the land for development, and to remove and
demoralize the Native Americans
 “Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone”
▪ Colonel Richard Doge 1867 as quoted in: Heads, Hides, and Horns, The
Complete Buffalo Book, by Larry Barshess – and presented in Merchant
(2002)
Buffalo were slaughtered by the millions
in the 1800’s as exemplified by the
mound of buffalo skulls, below, in this
historic photograph (found on Wikipedia)
Source: http://www.gprc.org/tour/tour3.html ; http://www.gprc.org/Graphics/Bisonpile_lg.jpg
Legislation during this time was put forth to settle
and to utilize the American West for homesteads,
logging, mining, farming, and livestock.
 “By the late 1800’s most of the unsettled land had
been allocated and people began to press for the
conservation of natural resources for efficient use
and to join a growing national movement to set
aside wilderness…for recreation” (Merchant, 2002).
 Much of the land was being overexploited
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By the end of the Nineteenth Century most of the land and
natural resources of the West had been claimed, and the
“frontier had come to a close” (Merchant, 2002).
“The perception of abundant unexploited lands teaming with
wildlife and fertile soils [turned] into wasted resources and
inefficient use” (Merchant, 2002)
 Timber companies cut trees without reforestation
 Ranchers overgrazed the perennial grasslands
 Mining companies also overexploited the land
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During this time, several people became aware of the misuse
of land. This sparked the “Conservation Movement”
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“Conservation = 1. the act or practice of
conserving; protection from loss, waste, etc.;
preservation 2. the official care and
protection of natural resources, as forests.”
(Webster’s New World Dictionary)
Optional Exercise: go to “Google” and search:
 Definition: conservation
 What are the recurring words?
“Between 1850 and 1920, concern for the natural world emerged as a complex
and broadly popular political and cultural movement in the United States. Newly
urbanized Americans were becomingly increasingly aware of the importance of
nature as an economic, aesthetic, and spiritual resource, especially as they
became convinced that nature’s resources were imperiled by industrialization.
This movement led to unprecedented public and private initiatives to ensure the
conservation of natural resources and the preservation of wildlife and of land”.
[This definition is from the Wisconsin Historical Society
(www.wisconsinhistory.org)]
 “The early conservation movement included fisheries and wildlife conservation,
water, soil conservation and sustainable forestry. The contemporary conservation
movement has broaden from the early movement's emphasis on use of
sustainable yield of natual resouces [misspelled on-line] and preservation of
wilderness areas to include preservation of biodiversity. The conservation
movement is part of the broader and more far-reaching environmental
movement.” This definition is from Wikipedia
 Again, what are the recurring words in these definitions?
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Protection
Natural Resources
Sustainability
Human use
Renewal
Preservation
Management
http://www.uku.fi/~dlaakson/Logging.jpg
The common threads in these definitions lead to the belief that resources should
be preserved (for future use). During the Conservation Movement natural
resources were to be protected so they wouldn’t be squandered. In just a little bit
we’ll see how certain key individuals wanted to push for the preservation of
beautiful, scenic areas (e.g. John Muir, Teddy Roosevelt). The consensus was that
the land should be preserved for human benefit, whether it means preserving
timber for future generations or preserving scenic land for human enjoyment
(getting back to “nature”, escaping the urban environment, demonstrating
manhood by killing large game, hunting /fishing /hiking, communicating with
“nature”, bird-watching, cultural-religious experiences in the wild, etc.). Note
that in the “conservation” definition there is no language explaining that “nature”
should be preserved for its own sake; that “nature” has a right to exist
irrespective of whether it is beneficial to humans or not (this will come later with
the Environmental Movement of the later Twentieth Century).
 Keep in mind the historical context. Prior, the American West was viewed as
limitless. It was a resource that should be utilized. The “Conservation” of such a
limitless resource was heretical, anti-economic, anti-American, and may have
been just as profound as many modern leftwing organizations are viewed today.
In modern times the notion of National Parks, e.g., is commonplace today and
no one would really argue against their existence. That may not have been the
case back then.
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Many of the early Conservationists were affluent urbanites from the East that enjoyed
hiking, fishing, camping, exploring, and hunting in the Great Outdoors.
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These outdoor activities were mostly reserved for those who could afford to take vacations, i.e. the
wealthy. William Cronon explains this well in The Trouble with Wilderness; or Getting Back to the
Wrong Nature, pg 78, second paragraph (required reading).
More rural people who lived off the land (farmers, lumberjacks, etc.) didn’t have the time or
resources for these activities, and their existence and livelihood was often threatened by nature.
Wilderness to the rural societies was still something to be feared and certainly not cherished.
Many Early Conservationists were writers and authors that preached the beauty and virtue
of the outdoors. This is explained in more detail in Cronon (1996).
Several prominent politicians and US Secretaries also expounded the notion of sustainable
resources and the value of preserving the wild, frontier-like American tradition.
Other Early Conservationists were just people that enjoyed being outside
The next few slides contain a short bio of the more important conservationist of the time.
When reading each of these biographies, please keep in mind the historical context. The
views and opinions expressed by these conservationist do not seem all that profound in the
modern era, however back then these ideas were not mainstream.
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Please note that the information included on these slides does not represent all the contributions
that these individuals made. Certainly whole volumes could be written on each one. But due to the
interest of time, I had to shorten the amount of information given. I encourage you to research
further (on your own) the historical significance of each individual.
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Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
Important Work: Walden; Life in the Woods
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Harvard graduate, writer
Details the beauty and wonder of the “natural
world”
 Thoreau lived in a small cabin (self-built) in the
Maine woods for two years, living off the land.
 The contribution of Thoreau was that his works
inspired the notion of the beauty of nature. He also
instilled the merits of “simple living amongst
nature”
 Thoreau wasn’t totally anti-civilization nor was he
anti-urban. He is described as saying: He saw the
wilderness of Maine as a place to visit to re-create
but not to remain. Thoreau's concept of wilderness
was a place used by man. For Thoreau "far in the
recesses of the wilderness" of Maine was to "travel
the logger's path and the Indian trail" rather than
the pristine untouched wilderness we often
associate with the word wilderness today
(Wikipedia).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Thoreau.jpg
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Author, Diplomat, Politician
Important Work: Man and Nature (1864)
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This is a classic work in environmental studies, and presents the idea that humans are
having a deleterious effect on their environment. The Editorial review from
Amazon.com states
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Excerpt from Man and Nature: “In reclaiming and reoccupying lands laid waste
by human improvidence or malice. . . The task is to become a co-worker with
nature in the reconstruction of the damaged fabric”, quote taken from Cronon
(1995), Uncommon Ground; Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, W. W. Norton
and Company, NY. Pg 110.
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“George Perkins Marsh challenged the general belief that human impact on nature was generally
benign or negligible and charged that ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean had brought
about their own collapse by their abuse of the environment. By deforesting their hillsides and
eroding their soils, they had destroyed the natural fertility that sustained their well-being. Marsh
offered his compatriots in the United States a stern warning that the young American republic
might repeat these errors of the ancient world if it failed to end its own destructive waste of
natural resources. Marsh’s ominous warnings inspired conservation and reform. In linking culture
with nature, science with history, Man and Nature was the most influential text of its time next to
Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, published just five years earlier. “
Note use of the terms “damaged fabric”, this would be very progressive and
controversial in the latter Nineteenth Century.
Another Excerpt: “Man has too long forgotten that the earth was given to him
for usufruct alone, not for consumption, still less for profligate waste.” Quote
taken from Merchant (2002).
Photo from Wikipedia
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Chief of the United States Forest Service 1905 – 1910
From Wikipedia: “He is famous for reforming the management
and development of forests in the United States and his
advocacy of scientific conservation for the planned use and
renewal of the nation's forest reserves: "the art of producing from
the forest whatever it can yield for the service of man." He coined
the term conservation as applied to natural resources. “
Pinchot is responsible for transferring the US Forest Service from
the Department of Interior to the Department of Agriculture.
This was done because he believed that forests should be
managed as if they were a crop (Merchant, 2002). He also
instituted sustainable yields and the reforestation after cutting
Pinchot’s ideas were in contrast to US Congress, which due to
lobbying by lumber/mining companies, pushed for the
uninterrupted cutting of Western timber. (Wikipedia)
With the election of William Taft to the presidency, Pinchot was
fired.
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/PA_En
v-er/images/pinchot.jpg
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26th President of the US
 Governor, Vice-President, Assistant Secretary of the
Navy, War Hero, Beloved Politician, Adventure,
Explorer, Conservationist, Frontiersman, Nobel Prize
winner, and possibly one of the best Americans ever
(my personal bias). I should also mention that the
famous bear he refused to shoot (because it was
injured and that would be unsportsmanlike) was in
Mississippi.
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Some of Roosevelt’s contributions to the
Conservation Movement:
 Supporter of Pinchot and Forest and Wild land
conservation
 Author of The Winning of the West, which inspired
active, outdoor recreation
 Supporter of John Muir
 Supporter of the establishment of National Parks
Photo from Wikipedia
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Renowned Landscape Architect
 Designed many urban parks, including
Central Park in New York
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Visited Yosemite Valley
 Olmstead was greatly inspired by the scenic
beauty.
 His experiences at Yosemite contributed to
his legacy of incorporating wilderness into
his landscape designs. He believed that
nature should be an important component
of city life (Merchant, 2002).
 His landscape designs helped inspire a
nostalgia for nature among urbanites.
Photo from Wikipedia
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Viewed by many to be the founder of the Conservation Movement
Probably the most noted Conservationists within his era
Accomplishments and Accolades
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Founder of the Sierra Club
Protector of the Yosemite Valley
Helped in the creation of Yosemite National Park (and the creation of the concept
of National Parks to some degree)
Influential Friend of President Roosevelt
Described by Goldfarb (2000)“ Muir was a vociferous proponent of an
ecocentric rather than an ethnocentric philosophical perspective. He
challenged the prevailing view of most of the conservationist of his time,
who tempered their respect for nature with the multiple-use concept that
gave primacy to human needs and appetites. The preservationist
movement, supported by Muir, saw the need to set aside wilderness areas
where no commercial or industrial activity would be permitted. The first
such “primitive areas” were established by an administrative fiat of the U.S.
Forest Service in the 1920’s, a decade after Muir’s death, but they were not
officially protected by federal law until the passage of the Wilderness Act in
1964,” from Notable Selections in Environmental Studies Second Edition,
pg. 3 – 4. Required Reading
Environmental activist who attempted to stop the construction of a dam
during his time (see Hetch Hetch Valley essay; required reading).
Photo from Wikipedia
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Muir quote (taken from Wikipedia)
 "Why should man value himself as more than a
small part of the one great unit of creation? And
what creature of all that the Lord has taken the
pains to make is not essential to the completeness
of that unit - the cosmos? The universe would be
incomplete without man; but it would also be
incomplete without the smallest transmicroscopic
creature that dwells beyond our conceitful eyes and
knowledge."
Note: National Parks are an
American invention
And the US was one of the first
Countries to set aside land for
preservation
Yellowstone (Wikipedia)
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Many of the National Parks
were established during the
Conservation Movement
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Yellowstone National Park – 1872
National Park Act 1916: was proposed
to “conserve the scenery and the
natural and historic objects and the
wildlife therein”, Quote from Merchant
(2002)
Yosemite National Park – 1890
Sequoia National Park – 1890
General Grant National Monument 1890
Mt. Rainer National Park – 1899
Creator Lake NP – 1902
Mesa Verde NP – 1906
Glacier NP – 1910
Grand Canyon NP - 1919
Can you guess the rock type?
Yosemite (Wikipedia)
(Yosemite contains world-famous granite outcrops, an intrusive igneous rock – pluton)
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Several prominent Outdoor Clubs were borne out of the Conservation
Movement. This “Outdoor Movement” as it is sometimes referred to was
initiated by the upper class who desired access to wilderness for leisure
and recreational purposes (Merchant, 2002). Additionally, many of these
clubs were established to preserve areas of great scenic beauty.
 Appalachian Mountain Club (1876): http://www.outdoors.org/
 Boone and Crockett Club (1887): http://www.boone-crockett.org/
▪ Theodore Roosevelt is the founder
 Mazamas of Portland, Oregon (1894): http://www.mazamas.org/
 Sierra Club, John Muir founder (1892): http://www.sierraclub.org/
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Merchant (2002) writes: The upper class viewed “wilderness” as a
threatened treasure to be “cherished and preserved”. Wilderness
represented the “American character”
Derived from the overexploitation of land during the
Nineteenth Century
 “Conservation” meant to preserve for future use or
to preserve because it was meaningful to humanity
 John Muir’s influence laid the foundation for a more
“environmental” philosophical view of nature, as
opposed to a “conservation” philosophy
 Many of our National Parks and conservation clubs
sprung out of the Conservation Movement
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The Conservation Movement continued throughout
the early Twentieth century. There were several key
events though that strengthened the need for
creating conservation legislation.
 Most notably in the 1930’s was the combination of
drought + poor agricultural land management +
poor economy. These events acted in tandem and
nearly destroyed farming in the Midwest. The
infamous “Dust Bowl” prompted a more
conservation-minded paradigm shift.
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www.photolib.noaa.gov/.../big/wea01414.jpg
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From Abbot (2006) Natural Disasters 5th Edition, McGraw
Hill, NY, pg. 307
 “ What happened to cause the drought? Recurrent large-scale
meanders in the upper-air flow resulting in descending air. The upperlevel high-pressure air was already dry, but as it sank, it became
warmer, thus reaching the ground hot, dry, and thirsty. As the winds
blew across the ground surface, they sucked up moisture, killing
plants and exposing bare soil to erosion. Wind-blown clouds of dust
built into towering masses of turbulent air and dust called rollers…
When they rolled across an area, the Sun was darkened, and dust
invaded every possible opening on a human body and came though
every crack in a home. Dust even blew as visible masses across East
Coast cities and blanketed ships at sea.”
http://eh.net/graphics/encyclopedia/dustbowl/fig1.jpg
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The poor agricultural practices didn’t cause the drought,
droughts are common in the Midwest, it just accentuated
the drought effect (Abbott, 2006).
Examples of poor agricultural practices
 Plowing deep, straight rows without windbreaks
 Removing the more drought-resistant native grasslands and replacing
them with more water-needy agricultural grasses, such as wheat and
corn.
▪ Here again we see a failure to recognize the importance of biomes and the
natural climate-vegetation interactions.
 The Dust Bowl occurred on the heels of the Great Depression, and it
prompted one of the greatest migrations in US history.
“Now the wind grew strong and hard,
It worked at the rain crust
In the corn fields.
Little by little the sky
Was darkened by the mixing dust,
And the wind felt over the earth,
Loosened the dust and carried it away”
John Steinbeck, quote presented in Abbott (2006)
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FDR’s “New Deal”: the Federal
Government promoted
conservation that benefited
workers and was intended to
“repair” the country from the
Great Depression (Merchant,
2002).
 “Wise management became the
hallmark of the New Deal era”
(Merchant, 2002).
Photo from Wikipedia

A “work relief” program
created by FDR and borne
out of the “New Deal” was
established to “combat”
unemployment.
 The young men in the CCC
were used for manual labor:
▪ Build trails and buildings
within national parks and state
parks
▪ Build canals, levees, dams
▪ Wildfire suppression
Photograph from Wikipedia
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Taylor Grazing Act 1934: limited grazing on the Great Plains
to preserve the soil and to prevent erosion (Merchant, 2002)
Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act 1935:
“allowed the government to pay farmers to reduce
production so as to "conserve soil", prevent erosion, and
accomplish other minor goals. (Brinkley, 1999 "p. 879")”
quote from Wikepedia, Brinkley reference = Brinkley, Alan
(1999). American History: A Survey, Tenth Edition. McGrawHill College.
Pittman-Robertson, Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act
1937: provided funds to States for the “management and
restoration of wildlife” (http://ipl.unm.edu/cwl/fedbook/pract.html)
 Money was generated from the sale of hunting/fishing licenses.
Once again I am skipping ahead a decade or so. This doesn’t imply that there
were not other important Acts or important environmental/conservationist
issues. But in the interest of time, I need to get to the Environmental Movement
of the 1960’s
 During the late 1940’s and 1950’s there was an explosion (pun intended) of new
chemical products and advances in nuclear technologies.
 Regarding the Chemicals, advances were made in developing

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Pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides
Petroleum products
Plastics
Shampoos, toy dinosaurs, rubber, vaccines, you name it!
Chemical manufacturing plants sprung up across the Nation
▪ As an example (but later in time), read A Civil Action by John Harr.
▪ Also as an example, Hooker Chemical company dumps waste from such chemical/military
processing plants in an area near Niagara, NY, which eventually becomes one of the most horrific
environmental disasters – the infamous “Love Canal”

In addition to the
chemical revolution,
there were significant
advances with nuclear
technologies
Photo from BBC
Needless to say, many of these advances raised much concern! Did anyone
have to do nuclear bomb evacuation drills as a student?

Many of the advances in the chemical/nuclear fields
created a whole slue of new environmental
problems
 Nuclear war, fallout, meltdowns, etc.
 Toxic waste dumps, people getting sick from toxic
materials

Public concern was mounting, and this concern
coupled with poor land use and loss of wildlife
prompted the “Environmental Movement” of the
1960’s and 1970’s
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The Environmental Movement represents a grassroots effort to raise
public awareness and to help preserve the quality of life (e.g. Clean Air,
Safe Drinking Water, Clean Water, Endangered Species, etc.)
This movement was prompted by the general public. This is somewhat
different then the Conservation Movement, which was more of an uppermiddle class movement to preserve resources.
Also slightly different from the Conservation Movement, the
Environmental Movement sought to protect wildlife and nature, not just
because they had explicit value to humans, but because the environment
should be preserved for its own sake.
Make sure you see the distinctions between the two movements
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Perhaps one of the most influential
works that helped instigate the
Environmental Movement was the book
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Carlson, a marine biologist by trade,
wrote about how pesticides were
destroying the innocent wildlife. The
term “Silent Spring” is used to explain
the disappearance of song birds due to
the broad-scale applications of DDT
Read the excerpt from Silent Spring (a
Word document that accompanies this
presentation.) Carlson was an excellent
writer and I believe that you can see how
well she presents her argument. Her
work was heavily criticized by industry,
but was supported by academic research
from colleges and universities. This work
also greatly inspired President JFK and
may have contributed to the passing of
many environmental policy legislation,
such as the 1964 Wilderness Act.
Photo from Wikipedia
Color Television: blue or green
toxins spilling into a stream, as
shown on local news, is more
profound in color than seeing it in
black and white. Red whale blood
from whaling operations spilling into
the ocean is also more dramatic on
color TV than on black and white TV.
Also the “Ad Campaign ran
successful environmental ads on TV,
such as “The Crying Indian”.
 Apollo 11 landing on the Moon: the
general public saw the Earth from
space. Seeing “Mother Earth” and
realizing the physical bounds of the
planet may have helped contribute
to a more environmental mindset.

Source: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/images11.html#5903
Photo from BBC
“Iron Eyes Cody”
Photo from Wikipedia

Disappearance of
Wildlife: due to over
hunting, America saw
population decline of
several key species.
For example,
 Buffalo, alligators, and
and image
probably most important Photo
From Wikipedia
our Nation’s symbol the
Bald Eagle.

The 60’s were also a time of
major social/political change in
the US. These other social
movements may have helped
influence the Environmental
Movement
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~kevhat/Civil%20Rights%20MLK.JPG
http://www.sixtiescity.com/Culture/Images/hippies.jpg
http://timmer.org/HISTORY_20/Online%20Readings/Images/free_speech3_sm.JPG http://wel.anu.edu.au/WEL_MARCH03.jpg
During the late 1960’s – 1970’s much of the Nation’s
environmental legislation was passed. These laws
are unique and represent one of the first attempts
by any major industrialized nation to pass laws to
protect the environment.
 It is worth noting that the environmental bills were
sparked by public concern for the environment. This
is a bottom -> up as opposed to a top-> down
movement.
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National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 1969

Decreed that any “major” or “significant” action by the federal government must
consider the environmental impact (from Wikipedia).
 Prior to any federal action, there must be an Environmental Impact Statement, which is
a lengthy investigation of how the proposed action would influence the air, water,
species, noise, culture, archeology, etc.
 This only applies to federal actions (not private development; it also doesn’t include
military actions), however if a private developer has to get a federal permit, then that
becomes a “federal action” that would warrant an Environmental Impact Statement.
▪ As an example, wetlands are regulated by the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE), Department of
Defense, as mandated by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act of 1972. If a developer wishes to
develop a wetland, the developer would have to get a permit through the ACE. Because this is a
federal permit it becomes a federal action, and thus the developer would be required to have an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

NEPA also created the Council on Environmental Quality (part of the Executive Branch)
that is in charge of EIS format, regulations, and reviews. The link below will take you to
the CEQ’s website. http://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/
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Clean Air Act 1963: set regulations for air quality
Wilderness Act 1964: legally defined wilderness and set aside close to 9
million acres of Wilderness areas to be federally protected
Clean Water Act 1972: restricted effluent to waterways, protected
wetlands, charged the Army Corps of Engineers to protect all “navigable
waterways”, set regulations for water quality.
Marine Mammals Act 1972: prevents the hunting, killing, collecting, etc.
of marine mammals (even within the ‘high seas’).
Safe Drinking Water Act 1972: Set standards for drinking water quality.
Endangered Species Act 1973: prevents government and private
individuals from taking, collecting, hunting, molesting, trapping, etc.
species that are endangered. It also provides protection for “critical
habitat” of endangered species.
Note: these Acts will be discussed in greater detail during the semester

Additionally, Earth Day
was created to
generate
environmental
awareness and
encourage
environmental
activism.
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Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon had significant roles in passing these laws. Note that the
environmental legislation transcends Democrat/Republican party lines.
During the 1960’s and 1970’s environmental protection was greatly overestimated. At first protection
seemed clear cut. The factory billowing pollutants out of smokestacks or that pumped toxic waste into
the water was a clear and easily recognized polluter. It was easy to enforce the new regulations. More
modern enforcement is much more convoluted. Similarly seeing whales hunted on television and
witnessing the decline in bald eagles made the Endangered Species Act regulations seem cut and dry.
But the ESA has generated a lot of controversy, e.g. snail darters and the Tellico Dam, logging and
spotted owl, etc. These Acts have had their share of criticism.
However great these Acts are for initially setting US environmental policy and for bringing an
environmental mentality to the federal government, they have been criticized by both the left and the
right. On one hand they are demonized for being too restrictive and interfering with the “pursuit of
happiness” as granted by the First Amendment. We will discuss more about environmental law towards
the end of the semester. On the other hand, these federal environmental regulations are viewed as
being too weak, or anemic, and not efficacious.
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Academically these acts have also been the subject of debate. Some of the arguments are as follows (not my
arguments per se but arguments that I have heard discussed):, how do you protect a species without protecting its
habitat? Furthermore, what is an endangered species being that ‘species’ and ‘endangered’ are terms that are
difficult to define? How much habitat is needed for each species? Shouldn’t there have been an Endangered Habitat
Act instead? Regarding pollution, why are there separate policies for protecting the atmosphere and for protecting
the hydrosphere? How do we regulate non point -source pollutants? Are they not all interrelated?
Real environmental protection is very complicated and intertwined, not a simple cut and dry policy.
However these laws have made a significant contribution to environmental quality. For example eagles
are back and the air is cleaner, just to name a few successes.
We will go over this in much more detail during the “Environmental Policy” lectures towards the end of
the semester. For right now, all I want you to do is be aware of this legislation and to understand the
historical context through which they were passed.

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Grassroots effort to protect the “quality” of life
Environmental Movement was sparked by public concern,
and may be interrelated to other social movements of the
1960s
 Other factors, such as color TV, disappearance of wildlife, etc. may
have contributed to the Environmental Movement.

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The publication of Silent Spring was very influential in
creating public concern about the environment
Several key environmental legislation and the official US
Environmental Policy was borne out of this Movement
Modern US environmental policy is still based on the
legislation of the 1960’s and 1970’s and their legacy still
persists today.
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All of you have lived through this time period, and you have
witnessed events that have shaped your own perspectives
about the environment. You may have also noted recent
changes in US environmental policy.
It is important to think about the events and policies that
have influenced the US environmental paradigm.