By: Christos Lavelle, Nate DeRita, and
Jagger Pazsak
• The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation,
is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to
protect natural resources including animal, fungus, and plant
species as well as their habitat for the future.
• Rachel Carson brought conservation to the attention of modern Americans in
her book Silent Spring.
• Rachel Carson was disturbed with the prolific use of synthetic chemicals in the
aftermath of World War 2.
• In Silent Spring she challenged the practices of agricultural scientists and the
government, and called for a change in the way humankind viewed the
natural world.
• These events added anxiety about the environment for Americans:
-In 1954, the 23 man crew of the Japanese fishing vessel Lucky Dragon
was exposed to radioactive fallout from a hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll.
-In 1969, an ecologically catastrophic oil spill from an offshore well in
California's Santa Barbara Channel.
-Barry Commoner's protest against nuclear testing.
-Pictures of Earth from space emphasized that the earth was small and
fragile.
• The Conservation Movement took place during the 1950s,
1960s and 1970s, when several events occurred which raised
the public awareness of harm to the environment caused by
man.
• It started when people became aware of the importance of the
environment that was expressed in Rachel Carsen’s novel Silent
Spring.
• This became a political and social issue.
• Earth Day created public support for the creation of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and contributed to the
passage of the Clean Air Act, the Water Quality Improvement Act,
the Endangered Species Act and several other environmental laws.
• The first Earth Day was in 1970. Nelson, after seeing the damage
done by a 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, was
inspired to organize a national "teach-in" that focused on educating
the public about the environment.
• In 1971, motivated by their vision of a green and peaceful world, a
small team of activists set sail from Vancouver, Canada in an old
fishing boat. These activists, the founders of Greenpeace, believed a
few individuals could make a difference.
• Their mission was to "bear witness" to U.S. underground nuclear
testing at Amchitka, a tiny island off the West Coast of Alaska, which
is one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions.
• The Conservation Movement was significant because it brought the
importance of our environment to American’s attention.
• People began to recycle so that we didn’t waste our precious
resources and trash our beloved planet.
• Significant impact of the movement:
• 1960- Congress passes Clean Water Act
• 1962- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is published
• 1963- Congress passes Clean Air Act
• 1964- Congress passes the Wilderness Act
• 1965- Congress passes the Water Quality Act
• 1969- Richard Nixon signs the Environmental Policy Act
• 1970- Earth Day is celebrated for the first time