Transcript Introduction to Conservation: A Geographic Perspective

Lecture 3
The Modern Environmental Movement
Lecture 3: Outline
I. Species of the day
II. Beginnings of the Conservation Movement
III.The Green Decade
IV. The Endangered Species Act (1973)
V. The 1980’s and the Post 9/11 World
VI. The Rise of New Conservation Strategies (Ecosystem Management)
VII.The Conservation Movement Today (Our Next President?)
Species of the Day
Bighorn Sheep
(Ovis canadensis)
Threats:
• Habitat loss
• Habitat fragmentation
• Increased predation
• Exposure to disease
• Increased competition for resources
Conservation Status:
Endangered, USFWS, 1998
Beginnings of the Conservation Movement
Ecosystem
Management
Preservationist
Ethic
Muir
1500
1600
Anthropocentrism
1700
1800
Resource Conservation
Ethic - Pinchot
1900
Romantic-Transcendentalism
Thoreau
Emerson
2004
1985
Society of
EvolutionaryConservation
ecological land ethic
Biology
Leopold
Forest Reserve Act (1891)
Beginnings of the Conservation Movement
Late 19th Century
• Industrial Revolution
• Loss of the Western Frontier
• Over consumption of natural resources
• Rise of the Romantic Transcendental
Conservation Ethic
Beginnings of the Conservation Movement
Romantic Transcendentalism (early to mid-1800’s)
Viewed the natural world as a source not simply
of material goods, but also of aesthetic
satisfaction, philosophical insight, and spiritual
solace.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
“A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.
It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures
the depth of his own nature.” ~ Thoreau
Beginnings of the Conservation Movement
Ecosystem
Management
Preservationist
Ethic
Muir
1500
1600
Anthropocentrism
1700
1800
Resource Conservation
Ethic - Pinchot
1900
Romantic-Transcendentalism
Thoreau
Emerson
2004
1985
Society of
EvolutionaryConservation
ecological land ethic
Biology
Leopold
Forest Reserve Act (1891)
Beginnings of the Conservation Movement
Preservationist Ethic
• Intrinsic value of nature and typified in the romantictranscendental movement.
• Focused on the usefulness of resources as well.
• Embodied the idea of preservation.
• Established the Sierra Club.
John Muir
(1838-1914)
"Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of
creation? And what creature of all that the Lord has taken the pains to make is not
essential to the completeness of that unit - the cosmos? The universe would be
incomplete without man; but it would also be incomplete without the smallest
transmicroscopic creature that dwells beyond our conceitful eyes and knowledge." A
Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf
Beginning of the Conservation Movement
Ecosystem
Management
Preservationist
Ethic
Muir
1500
1600
Anthropocentrism
1700
1800
Resource Conservation
Ethic - Pinchot
1900
Romantic-Transcendentalism
Thoreau
Emerson
2004
1985
Society of
EvolutionaryConservation
ecological land ethic
Biology
Leopold
Forest Reserve Act (1891)
Beginning of the Conservation Movement
Resource Conservation
•
•
•
•
Gifford Pinchot
(1865-1946)
Pinchot quotes:
First American scientist trained in forest management.
Emphasized utilitarian approach to management.
Embodied the “resource conservation ethic”
Was the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service
Some terminology:
• Sustained yield
• Conservation
“The forest rightly handled – given the chance – is, next to the earth itself,
the most useful servant of man.”
“There are just two things on this material earth – people and natural resources”
“The great fact of conservation is that it stands for development.”
Beginning of the Conservation Movement
Evolutionary/Ecological Land Ethic:
• Emphasized combining conservation and
preservation.
• Must have a basic appreciation of the biotic
community as a whole
• Protect at least samples of each different kind of
community
Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)
• Use resources conservatively with high regard for
native diversity and ecological functions
• Revise management based on new scientific
knowledge
• Actively restore wherever feasible
• Identify and work to change the social and economic
forces that constrain the above actions
The Green Decade (1970-1980)
• 1960’s – Social unrest, end of this period
results in a well defined environmental
movement
• Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)
• Period of alternative thought (art, music,
science, etc.)
• Environmental movement becomes a
political and public issue
• Numerous environmental groups are formed
The Green Decade (1970-1980)
The Endangered Species Act (1973)
“ Provide a means by whereby the ecosystems
upon which endangered species and threatened
species depend may conserved and to provide a
program for the conservation of such endangered
and threatened species.”
Endangered Species:
Any species threatened with extinction
throughout a significant portion of its
range
Threatened Species:
Any species likely to become endangered
in the foreseeable future throughout all or
a significant portion of its range.
The 1980’s and the Post 9/11 World
• From Carter to Reagan
• Reagan deregulation and the
environment
• Bush as the environmental President
• Ozone layer
• Global warming
• Employment vs. the environment
The 1980’s and the Post 9/11 World
From Clinton:
• Increased funding for scientific research
• Developed new initiatives to improve energy efficiency
• Increased enforcement of environmental laws
• Preserved millions of acres in national parks and wilderness areas
• Instigated long term protection of wilderness in roadless areas.
To Bush (again)
• Decreased federal govt. involvement in favor of local or state govt.
• Increased funding for nuclear power
• Won’t ratify the Kyoto Protocol, has his own plan
• Healthy Forests Initiative
• Created wetland restoration programs
• Wants to simplify the ESA and reduce complexity of environmental legislation
• Believes in oversight of scientists that influence policy
New Conservation Approaches
Ecosystem Management:
• Land management approach that considers
the biological needs of a large area of land.
• It is management for the health of the whole
ecosystem by providing for the preservation
and restoration of plants, animals, soil, and
water while also providing for things
important to people, such as food and
recreation.
• Ecosystem management is the skillful,
integrated use of ecological knowledge at
various scales to produce desired resource
values, products, and services in ways that
also sustain the diversity and productivity of
ecosystems.
New Conservation Approaches
Ecosystem Management:
The Conservation Movement Today
Our Next President?
Obama\McCain Environmental Comparison
http://www.grist.org/candidate_chart_08.html