The history of the conservation movement

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The history of the conservation movement

• The North American perspective

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The industrial revolution
An era of unregulated economic growthLeft its
mark on the cities .
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and the countryside
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George Perkins Marsh 1801-1882
Over a hundred years ago he warned of our
destructive ways in a remarkable book called Man
and Nature or, Physical Geography as Modified by
Human Action. He was the one of the first to
raise concerns about the destructive impact of
human activities on the environment.
"...Man, who even now finds scarce breathing room
on this vast globe, cannot retire from the Old
World to some yet undiscovered continent, and
wait for the slow action of such causes to
replace, by a new creation, the Eden he has
wasted"
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Thomas Ewbank1792-1870
US Commissioner of Patents. the waste of
valuable timber in the United States, to say
nothing of firewood, will hardly begin to be
appreciated until our population reaches fifty
millions. Then the folly and shortsightedness of
this age will meet with a degree of censure and
reproach not pleasant to contemplate."
".. "the vast multitudes of bisons slain yearly,
the ceaseless war carried on against them, if
continued, threatens their extermination, and
must hereafter cause deep regret",... it should
never be said that the noblest of American
indigenous ruminants have become extinct." . "
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Henry David Thoreau1817-1862
In wildness is the preservation of the
world Author of Walden pond Early literary
figure who raised public consciousness regarding
natural places "The Succession of Forest Trees
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1870 Congress passes "An Act to prevent the
Extermination of Fur-Bearing Animals in Alaska,"
the first of numerous Congressional and
Presidential efforts in the coming decades to
protect the economically valuable Pacific fur
seals by regulating their hunting. . 1871.
Congress passes a "Joint Resolution for the
Protection and Preservation of the Food Fishes of
the Coast of the United States," authorizing the
President to appoint a commissioner of fish and
fisheries to investigate the declining numbers of
coastal and lake food fishes, and to recommend
remedial measures to Congress. 1872 Congress
passes "An Act to set apart a certain Tract of
Land lying near the Head-waters of the
Yellowstone River as a public Park,", thus
establishing Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming,
the first in the history of the nation and of the
world 1887 Exemplifying the significance of
sportsmen as conservationists, George Bird
Grinnell and Theodore Roosevelt found the Boone
and Crockett Club,
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John Muir
Former shepherd turned conservationist. Founded
Sierra Club in 1892 to help preserve
wilderness Wrote extensively on the wilderness
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Gifford Pinchot1865-1946
Appointed US Commissioner of Forests in 1898.
Introduced sustainable forestry to US from Europe
to replace the cut and move on forestry that had
been practiced. Served 2 terms as Governor of
Pennsylvania. ". . . among the many, many public
officials who under my administration rendered
literally invaluable service to the people of the
United States, Gifford Pinchot on the whole,
stood first." Theodore Roosevelt
the greatest good of the greatest number in the
long run.
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Theodore Roosevelt
President of U.S. Avid hunter and
conservationist. He created five National Parks,
four Big Game Refuges, fifty-one National bird
Reservations, and the National Forest Service.
Conservation was a central theme of his domestic
policy .
". It is entirely in our power as a nation to
preserve large tracts of wilderness...as
playgrounds for rich and poor alike, and to
preserve the game...But this end can only be
achieved by wise laws and by a resolute
enforcement of the laws. Lack of such legislation
and administration will result in harm to all of
us, but most of all harm to the nature lover who
doe not possess vast wealth. Already there have
sprung up here and there through the country, as
in New Hampshire and the Adirondacks, large
private preserves. . "
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(No Transcript)
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The 2 steps in change

• Public awareness through the media
• Legislative action

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The tension within the conservation
movementpreservation or sustained use

• Many of the writers were preservationists,
  Thoreau, John Muir etc.
• Roosevelt was a hunter, for him conservation was
  necessary for the greatest good for the greatest
  number
• Gifford Pinchot brought the science of wise use
  to the U.S. government
• Pinchots forests were not pristine places, but
  were modeled on European forests, where
  sustainable economic yield is maximized!

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Rachel Carson1907-1964
Marine biologist with U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. Wrote well known book the Sea around
us. Best known for Silent Spring 1963 showing
how pesticide use had decimated bird life in
North America. This book was the most
significant book of environmental consciousness
in the 2nd half of 20th Century. Was editor in
chief for all USFW Service publications
".. "The more clearly we can focus our attention
on the wonders and realities of the universe
about us,the less taste we shall have for
destruction." . "
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Paul Ehrlich
Professor of Biology at Stanford. Best known for
the population bomb 1968. Appeared on the
Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (pre Jay Leno)
25 times in 1970s. Made many predictions that
did not come true Lost bet with an economist that
non-renewable resources would become more
expensive.
"Everybody understands that the population
explosion is going to come to an end. What they
don't know is whether it's going to come to an
end primarily because we humanely limit births or
because we let nature have her way and the death
rate goes way up "
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The critics views of Ehrlich
His Population Bomb began, "The battle to feed
all of humanity is over ... hundreds of millions
of people are going to starve to death." In 1969,
Ehrlich added, "By 1985 enough millions will have
died to reduce the earth's population to some
acceptable level, like 1.5 billion people." The
same year, he predicted in an article entitled
"Eco-Catastrophe!" that by 1980 the United States
would see its life expectancy drop to 42 because
of pesticides, and by 1999 its population would
drop to 22.6 million. In the mid-seventies, with
the release of his The End of Affluence, Ehrlich
incorporated drama into his dire prophesies. He
envisioned the President dissolving Congress
"during the food riots of the 1980s," followed by
the United States suffering a nuclear attack for
its mass use of insecticides. That's right,
Ehrlich thought that the United States would get
nuked in retaliation for killing bugs.
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This was at least the theory of a lone American
economist, Julian Simon. And after a decade of
being attacked or ignored by Ehrlich, Simon
resolved to show Ehrlich what a joke the
doomsayers were. The two never debated (Ehrlich
refused, calling Simon a "fringe character"),
rather he put his money were his mouth was. In
1980, when Ehrlich was still predicting imminent
scarcity, Simon set up a bet wherein he would
sell Ehrlich 1,000 dollars worth of any five
commodities that Ehrlich chose. Ehrlich would
hold the commodities for ten years. If the prices
rose -- meaning scarcity -- Simon would buy the
commodities back from Ehrlich at the higher
price. If the prices fell, Ehrlich would pay
Simon the difference. Professor Ehrlich jumped at
the bet, noting that he wanted to "accept the
offer before other greedy people jumped in." In
October of 1990, Ehrlich mailed Simon a check for
570.07. As Simon predicted, free markets
provided lower prices and more options. Simon
would have won even if prices weren't adjusted
for inflation. He then offered to raise the wager
to 20,000 and use any resources at any time that
Ehrlich preferred. The Stanford professor was
slightly less bold this time. He refused Simon's
offers, mailing him only a check and a table of
his calculations, with no note attached. No
longer was the bet Ehrlich's way of saving Simon
from greedy speculators. Looking back, Ehrlich
claimed that he was "goaded into making a bet
with Simon on a matter of marginal environmental
importance."
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Key U.S. and international legislation

• 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act
• 1973 U.S. Endangered Species Act
• 1973 International Convention on Trade in
  Endangered Species (CITES)
• 1978 International Law of the Seas
• 1976 Magnusson Act

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In future lectures

• Look at the legislation that governs most federal
  conservation measures
• Explore the tension within the conservation
  movement preservation or wise use

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Definition from Encyclopedia Britannica

• Conservation planned management of a natural
  resource or the total environment of a particular
  ecosystem to prevent exploitation, pollution,
  destruction, or neglect and to ensure the future
  use of the resource.
• Preservation 1. To maintain in safety from
  injury, peril, or harm protect. 2. To keep in
  perfect or unaltered condition maintain
  unchanged.

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Study guide

• Recognize all the people mentioned in this
  lecture and their general contribution (good
  Ph.D. oral exam questions!)
• Be able to place current legislative initiatives
  like the Magnusson-Stevens act in their
  historical context
• Recognize the relationship between the alarmist
  views of the state of the worlds oceans and the
  Population bomb