History of the Environmental movement

Detailed Topics

Description

The environmental movement started long before the landmark protection laws (Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, etc.) were passed in the 1970's. Famous authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and John Muir were on the case over a century ago. For many years, the grassroots movements such as the Sierra Club introduced thousands of people to what nature had to offer and what the new industrialization race could detriment. Public lands were put aside for the first time starting in the 1870's. Theodore Roosevelt, an avid hunter and historian, set aside millions of acres for all citizens to enjoy in perpetuity. Robert Frost and Walt Whitman described Nature in poems over the last century. Ansel Adams brought many of our national parks to the public at a time when traveling to these national parks was out of the question for most people. His crisp black and white photographs provoke awe generations later.

Following World War II, toxins, open pit mining and clear cutting forests exposed the possibilities of an industrial machine bent on extracting nature's very existence for short term gain. At one point the Bald Eagle, our national bird, was on a downhill ramp to extinction due to the use of the toxic pesticide DDT used throughout the nation. The classic book Silent Springs brought some of these problems to our attention. The call to arms had been made.

For the last 30 years of the Twentieth Century, organized efforts have been made to protect our natural heritage, and our own health as a result. Just as women's' suffrage and civil rights were the notable grassroots movements of the last century, the environmental movement will be an essential one in this century.

At some time in the future, we might author a brief environmental history here, however, the following web sites and books are more than satisfactory to supplant this endeavor.

At left, you will also find a link to quotes collected by the webmaster over the past five years or so. The quotes are listed alphabetically by the author's last name.

Helpful Web Sites

Environmental History Timeline (excellent reference!)
The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920
Yellowstone, the First National Park
American Society for Environmental History
Disasters in the United States

Helpful Books

"A Fierce Green Fire" by Shabecoff
"Encompassing Nature" Edited by Torrance
"When Life Nearly Died" by Benton
"Small Wonder" by Kingsolver
"One with Nineveh" by Ehrlich and Ehrlich
"Our Final Hour" by Rees
"Red Sky at Morning : America and the Crisis of the Global Environment" by Speth
"A Walk in the Woods" by Bryson