Environmental History

AP Environmental Science

Milton High School

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 be owned by all people

- wished leave land and resources for future generations

1849 Establishment of the U.S. Department of Interior

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 createdRoosevelt 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

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)

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

1933 Aldo Leopold is professor of Game Management at U. of Wisconsin

1935 Aldo Leopold is one of the founders of the Wilderness SocietyThe 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

1940 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

Protection of endangered species

Enforcement of U.S. and International laws

protecting wild 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

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. Itis 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

1958 Mauna Loa Observatory initiates monitoring of

atmospheric carbon dioxide levels

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

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

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

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

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

1980 Superfund – proposed by Jimmy Carter to clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites including the Love Canal near Niagra Falls, NY

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

1997 Kyoto, Japan – treaty to help slow carbon dioxide emissions*Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which contributes to global climate change

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 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

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

The End