Environmental History

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Environmental History

• AP Environmental Science
• Milton High School

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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.
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• Between 1832 and 1870
• people alarmed at rate of resource depletion
• urged that part of unspoiled wilderness on public
  lands be owned by all people
• - wished leave land and resources for future
  generations
• 1849 Establishment of the U.S. Department of
  Interior

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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
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• 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

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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
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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
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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
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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
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1930s President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted
federal government programs to provide jobs and
restore the countrys degraded environment (bring
country out of the Great Depression) He 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
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1933 Aldo Leopold is professor of Game
Management at U. of Wisconsin 1935 Aldo
Leopold is one of the founders of the Wilderness
Society The Wilderness Society's mission is to
protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care
for our wild places. - Through his writings
and teachings he became one of the founders of
the conservation and environmental movement of
the 20th Century
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Protection of endangered species
Enforcement of U.S. and International laws
protecting wild species

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
  created
• "working with others to conserve, protect, and
  enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats
  for the continuing benefit of the American
  people."
• 1948 World Conservation Union or International
  Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural
  Resources (IUCN) dedicated to natural resource
  conservation

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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
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1956 Minamata disease, a neurological syndrome
caused by server mercury poisoning first
discovered in Japan
Minamata disease is a form of methyl mercury
poisoning caused by eating large quantities of
fish and shellfish polluted by methyl mercury in
factory wastewater. It is not a contagious
disease transmitted through air or food, and it
is not inherited.
Symptoms numbness in hands and legs tiredness
slurred speech ringing in the ears narrowing of
the field of vision awkward movements Chronic
symptoms headaches loss of smell and taste
forgetfulness
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1958 Mauna Loa Observatory initiates monitoring
of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels
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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
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• 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

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• Garrett Hardin publishes The Tragedy of the
  Commons
• What is a common?
• atmosphere air pollution
• open ocean depletion of fish stocks
• Lake Lanier water pollution
• traffic jams overused
• public land harvesting of timber

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April 22, 1970 First Annual Earth Day - 20
million people in more than 2,000 communities
heightened awareness and demanded improvements in
environmental quality
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• Richard Nixon established Environmental
  Protection Agency
• - Clean Air Act empowered the federal
  government to set air pollution emission
  standards for automobiles and industries
• Ocean Dumping Act, Marine Protection and
  Sanctuaries Act, Coastal Zone Management, and
  Marine Mammal Protection Act to help regulate and
  protect marine resources
• Endangered Species Act conservation of
  threatened and endangered species and their
  habitats

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• 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 countrys dependence on
  imported oil

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1980 Superfund proposed by Jimmy Carter to
clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites
including the Love Canal near Niagra Falls, NY
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1987 Montreal Protocol to halve emissions of
ozone depleting CFCs
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1988 E.O. Wilson publishes Biodiversity
detailing how human activities are affecting the
Earths diversity of species
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• Kyoto, Japan treaty to help slow carbon
  dioxide emissions
• Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which
  contributes to global climate change

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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
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2003 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
Suspended sediments in streams can kill aquatic
life
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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
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The End