Environmental History
AP Environmental Science
Milton High School
R. Brown
1560 – 1600 Rapid industrialization in England leads to heavy
deforestation and increasing substitution of coal for wood
1640 Isaac Walton writes The Compleat Angler about fishing and conservation
1773 William Bartram (American naturalist) sets out on a 5 year journey
through the US Southeast to describe wildlife and wilderness; his book
Travels, is published in 1791 and becomes one of the early literary classics
1828 Carl Sprengel formulates the Law of the Minimum
stating that growth is limited not by the total of
resources available, but by the scarcest resource.
Between 1832 and 1870
-people alarmed at rate of
resource depletion
-urged that part of unspoiled
wilderness on public lands
owned by all people
- leave land and resources for
future generations
1849 Establishment of the
U.S. Department of Interior
1857 Frederick Law Olmsted gains commission to develop America’s 1st
great city park, Central Park, thus bringing the art and science of
landscape architecture to the U.S.
1859 Publication of second edition of William Elliot’s Carolina Sports by
Land and Water; an early example of the hunter-as-conservationist
1864 George Perkins Marsh publishes Man and Nature, the first systematic
analysis of humanity’s destructive impact on the natural environment and a
work which becomes “the fountain-head of the conservation movement.”
1872 Yellowstone National Park established (first U.S. national park)
1891 The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 – turning point in establishing the
responsibility of the federal government for protecting public lands from
resource depletion
1892 John Muir (nature
preservationist) founded the
Sierra Club
-
leader of preservationist
movement – large areas of
public lands protected from
human intervention
- proposed for the creation of the
National Park Service
1900 Lacey Act is the
1st federal law
protecting wildlife
prohibiting trade of
wildlife, fish, and
plants that have been
illegally taken,
possessed,
transported, or sold
1901 – 1909
Golden Age of Conservation
- effective protection of forests and wildlife did not
begin until Theodore Roosevelt became President
- established first federal wildlife refuge
- Roosevelt added 35 more reserves by 1904
- Roosevelt established U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
1903
Pelican Island is the first National Wildlife Refuge
1905 U.S. Forest Service created
Roosevelt appointed Gifford Pinchot
as its first chief
- Pinchot pioneered scientific
management of forest resources on
public lands, using the principles of:
- Sustainable Yield: highest rate at
which a potentially renewable
resource can be used without
reducing its available supply
- Multiple Use: use of an ecosystem
such as a forest for a variety of
purposes such as timber harvesting,
wildlife habitat, watershed
protection, and recreation
1906 Antiquities Act allows U.S.
President to set aside areas
on federal lands as National
Monuments
1916 National Park Service Act
(Woodrow Wilson)
- Parks were to be maintained in
a manner that leaves them
unimpaired for future
generations
- Est. National Park Service
(Department of Interior) to
manage the National Parks
1924 Aldo Leopold convinces the Forest Service to protect 500,000 acres of
New Mexico’s Gila National Forest as Wilderness, the National Forest’s System
first officially designated wilderness area
1930’s President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted federal government programs to
provide jobs and restore the country’s degraded environment (bring country out of
the Great Depression)
- created the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in 1933
-2 million unemployed people to work planting trees and developing
and maintaining parks and recreation areas (also restored silted
waterways and build levees and dams for flood control
1934
President FDR
appointed
Jay Norwood
“Ding” Darling
as head of U.S.
Biological Survey
although he was
not qualified (he
was a PulitzerPrize winning
cartoonist)
J.N. “Ding” Darling
- Early pioneer for wildlife
conservation
-Established Migratory Bird
Conservation Commission
-Initiated first Federal Duck
Stamp Program (purchase
wetlands for waterfowl
habitat)
- Founder of National Wildlife
Federation
Land, water and vegetation are just that dependent on
one another. Without these three primary elements in
natural balance, we can have neither fish nor game, wild
flowers nor trees, labor nor capital, nor sustaining habitat
for humans.
- Jay Norwood Darling
700 million dollars has
been raised since the 1st
Federal Duck Stamp was
sold in 1935
More than 5.2 million
acres of habitat has
been purchased for
wildlife from the
money raised by the
selling of the Federal
Duck Stamp
1935
Aldo Leopold is one of the founders of the Wilderness Society
- Through his writings and teachings he became one of the founders of the
conservation and environmental movement of the 20th Century
1937 Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson Act)
- selection, restoration, rehabilitation, and improvement of wildlife habitat, wildlife
management research, funding for hunter safety programs, public target ranges
- 11% federal excise tax on sporting arms, ammunition, archery equip.
- 10% federal excise tax on handguns
-
apportionment of federal funds depends on total land area of the state and the
number of licensed hunters
- Cost reimbursement: 75% paid for by federal funds and 25% by state
1940 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) created
- Dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife
and plants, and their habitats
- Responsible for implementing and enforcing environmental laws such as:
- Endangered Species Act
- Migratory Bird Treaty Act
- Marine Mammal Protection Act
- The Lacey Act
1948 World Conservation Union or
International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
- World’s oldest and largest global
environmental network
- develops and supports conservation
science, particularly in species,
ecosystems, biodiversity, and the
impact these have on human livelihood
- Red List of Threatened Species
1949 Sand County Almanac
published (author Aldo Leopold)
- an environmental classic that
inspired the modern
environmental movement – his
land ethic expanded the role of
humans as protectors of nature
1950 Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act (Dingell-Johnson Act)
- management, conservation, and restoration of fishery resources
- revenues collected from tax on fishing rods, reels, creels, lures, flies, and
artificial baits
- Each states share based on licensed anglers (60%) and amount of land and
water area (40%)
- Cost reimbursement same as Pittman-Robertson Act
1956 Minamata disease, a
neurological syndrome caused by
severe mercury poisoning; first
discovered in Japan
1958 Mauna Loa Observatory initiates
monitoring of atmospheric carbon
dioxide levels
1960’s The beginning of the environmental movement
Paul Ehrlich, Barry Commoner, and Garrett Hardin described the
relationships among population growth, resource use and pollution
1962 Rachel Carson published Silent Spring
-
documented the pollution of air, water, and wildlife from pesticides such as
DDT
- broadened the concept of resource conservation to include preservation of
the quality of the air, water, and soil
- many mark this as the beginning of the modern environmental movement in
the United States
1963 Wilderness Act – authorized the government to protect
undeveloped tracts of land inspired by the vision of John Muir
80 years earlier
1965 – 1970 emerging science of ecology
- popular writings of biologists such as Paul Ehrlich, Barry Commoner, and
Garrett Hardin awakened people to the interlocking relationships among
population growth, resource use, and pollution
- public became aware that pollution and loss of habitat were endangering
well-known wildlife species such as the North American Bald Eagle, the Grizzly
Bear, and the Whooping Crane
1968 Garrett Hardin
publishes The Tragedy of the
Commons
1969 National
Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) – first requirements
on environmental impact
assessment
April 22, 1970 First Annual Earth Day
- 20 million people in more than 2,000 communities heightened awareness and
demanded improvements in environmental quality
1970 Richard Nixon established Environmental Protection Agency
- Clean Air Act – empowered the federal government to set air pollution emission
standards for automobiles and industries
1972 Ocean Dumping Act, Marine Protection and Sanctuaries Act, Coastal Zone
Management, and Marine Mammal Protection Act to help regulate and protect marine
resources
1973 Endangered Species Act – conservation of threatened and endangered species and
their habitats
1973 OPEC reduced oil exports and banned oil shipments to U.S.
1974 OPEC Oil Embargo raised the price of crude oil resulting in
1. double-digit inflation in U.S. and other countries
2. high interest rates
3. soaring international debt
4. global economic recession
1977 Clean Water Act – states required to protect watersheds from non-point source
pollution
1978 Love Canal, NY – Housing development evacuated because of toxic wastes leaking
from old dumpsite
1977 – 1981 President Jimmy Carter very responsive to environmental concerns
- created the Department of Energy - develop a long-range energy strategy to
reduce the country’s dependence on imported oil
- used the Antiquities Act of 1906 to triple amount of land in National
Wilderness System and double the area in the National Park System
1977 Federal Land Policy and Management Act gave the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) its first real authority to manage public lands under its control (85% of which is
in 12 western states)
- law angered a number of western interests whose use of these public lands was
restricted for the first time
- in response, a coalition of ranchers, miners, loggers, developers, farmers, some elected
officials, and others launched a political campaign known as the Sagebrush Rebellion
- 2 goals
- reduce government regulation of the use of public lands
- remove most public lands in western U.S. from federal
ownership and management
1980’s Anti-environmental movement began funded by farmers and ranchers,
and leaders of the oil, automobile, mining, and timber industries who
opposed many of the environmental laws
1980 Superfund – proposed by Jimmy Carter to clean up abandoned hazardous
waste sites including the Love Canal near Niagra Falls, NY
1981 President Ronald Reagan (a Sagebrush rebel)
- advocate of less federal control
- appointed key federal positions to people who opposed most existing
environmental and public land use laws and policies
- increased private energy and mineral development and timber cutting
on public lands
- cut federal funding for energy conservation and renewable energy
resources
- eliminated the incentives for residential solar energy and energy
conservation
- lowered automobile gas mileage standards
- relaxed federal air and water quality pollution standards
1987 Montreal Protocol – to halve emissions of ozone depleting CFCs
1988 E.O. Wilson publishes Biodiversity detailing how human
activities are affecting the Earth’s diversity of species
1990 – 2004 President Bill Clinton
- appointed respected environmentalists to key positions in
environmental resource agencies
- vetoed most of the anti-environmental bills
- required SUVs to meet the same air pollution emission standards
as cars
- made forest health the primary priority in managing national forests
and declared many road-less areas in national forests off limits to
roads and logging
- used Antiquities Act of 1906 to protect parcels of land in West (he
protected more public lands as national monuments in the lower 48
states than any other President
- was criticized for not pushing issues on global warming and global
and national biodiversity protection
1989 George H.W. Bush continued supporting exploitation of valuable
resources on public lands and allowed some environmental laws to be undercut even though he promised to be the “Environmental President”
1990 National Environmental Education Act authorized funding of
education programs at elementary and secondary level
environmental
1990’s environmental issues increased on many college campuses and
environmental studies programs at colleges and universities expanded
- awareness of issues such as: sustainability, population growth,
biodiversity protection, and threats from global warming
1991 The protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was
signed 4 October. The agreement provided for the protection of the Antarctic
environment through five specific annexes on marine pollution, flora, and
fauna, environmental impact assessments, waste management, and protected
areas. It prohibits all activities relating to mineral resources except scientific
1993 Paul Hawken publishes Ecology of Commerce discussing
relationships between ecology and business
2000 Jan 30 Aurul goldmine dam near Baia Mare, Romania overflows
releasing cyanide-laced slurry into the Danube River (compared to the
nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986)
2001 U.S. rejects Kyoto Protocol
2002 Dr. Eugene Odum passes away (University of Georgia Ecology
Professor); he made the relationship between human activity and “natural
processes” as an essential part of his description of the concept ecosystem; his
textbook “Fundamentals of Ecology” was first published in 1953
2003 Jan 29 Bush administration wins a court victory on mountain-top removal
mining – Environmental groups said it violated Clean Water Act; this victory will
allow companies to dynamite mountains and then dump the “spoils” into valleys
and streams
2003 The world’s largest reservoir, the Three Gorges Dam begins filling
Three Gorges Dam, China
(satellite view)
Mountain-top removal
•Largest hydroelectric power station in the world
•Has flooded archaeological and cultural sites
•Displaced over 1 million people
•Destruction of critically endangered Siberian Crane’s wintering grounds
•Contributed to the functional extinction of the Yangtze river dolphin
•Reduction of nutrient rich silt downstream
2004 Wangari Maathai wins the
Nobel Peace Prize (1st African
woman to be awarded the prize); she
started the Green Revolution in
Africa – planted tens of millions of
trees across Africa to slow
deforestation; led to projects to
preserve biodiversity, educate
people about their environment, and
promote the rights of women and
girls
2006 Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore releases An Inconvenient Truth
2006 Sept. 27 California is first US state to impose a gap on greenhouse gas
emissions
2007 Dec. 3 Bail, Indonesia; International Conference on climate change
begins as part of United Nations effort to develop a successor plan to the 1996
Kyoto Protocol
2007 Dec. 14 Conservative Senators and President George Bush block
provisions of an Energy Bill that would have financed renewable energy by
cutting tax breaks for oil companies
What can we
expect for the
future?
The End