History of Environmental
Movement in the U.S.
The first people of North
America (25K years ago)
• Native American peoples
• mostly hunters/gatherers
• little mass agriculture kept population in
check
• culture had great respect for nature
Exploitation Years (1620-1900)
• First colonists brought with them 3
symbolic items:
• axe
• plow
• gun
• Manifest Destiny: westward expansion,
resource exploitation was God’s will.
Exploitation Years
•
•
•
•
•
Myth of superabundance
Examples:
wildlife resources- buffalo
forests- Wisconsin
prairies- Cattle Barons, Sod Busters
Early Leaders in Conservation
• Henry David Thoreau- Walden Pond, called
for “preservation” of environment
• George Perkins Marsh- Man and Nature,
called for “conservation” of environment.
• John Wesley Powell- Grand Canyon
• Creation of Yellowstone Park (1872)
Conservation Years
1900-WWII
Early Leaders in Conservation
• John Muir- president of Sierra Club. 1st
private conservation organization.
• Gifford Pinchot- 1st chief forester. Brought
scientific forestry to practice.
• Teddy Roosevelt (1901-1909)- avid
outdoorsman, hunter, 1st president to call
for conservation of the environment.
FDR, The “New Deal”, and
Conservation Initiatives
• Tennessee Valley Autority (TVA)- dams and
other power services
• Soil Conservation Service
• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)- many
conservation projects, put thousands of
unemployed men to work
• Eastern National Forests Created
The Environmental Era
(1950-present)
Aldo Leopold
•
•
•
•
Park Service employee
Professor of Forestry at UW- Madison
Wrote “A Sand County Almanac”
Developed an “Environmental Ethic”
• “We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us.
When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin
to use it with love and respect.”
The 1960’s
•
•
•
•
Racism and Civil Rights
Santa Barbara Oil Spill
Cuyahoga River burns for 3 days
Space flight, our 1st pictures of a finite
Earth
Significant Environmental
Legislation
• Wilderness Act (1964)- permanent
preservation of designated wild lands
• Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (1968)
• National Environmental Policy Act (1969)created the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA)
• The Clean Air Act (1970)- greatly expanded
protection of air
Significant Environmental
Legislation
• The Clean Water Act (1972)- protection of
all surface water in US
• Endangered Species Act (1973)- identify
and protect endangered species
• Superfund (1980)- established rules for
disposal of hazardous waste, punishment for
illegal dumping
Permanent Protection for the
Environment
• The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA)
• The Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources (WDNR)
•
handouts