Post on 12-Jan-2016
transcript
Environmental History
AP Environmental Science
Milton High School
R. Brown
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
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)
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 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
1948 World Conservation Union or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) – dedicated to natural resource conservation
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 server mercury poisoning; first discovered in Japan
1958 Mauna Loa Observatory initiates monitoring of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels
1960’s The beginning of the environmental movementPaul 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
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
2000 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)
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
More companies, city governments, and people
are “going green”
Eco-friendly products
The End