Lesson 1

What is "Conservation" and Why Does It Matter?

Americans have a long history of advocating for the preservation of natural resources. Between 1850 and 1920 naturalists, politicians, authors and artists identified numerous features of the natural and human landscape of America which they believed worthy of preservation.  They explained and justified their positions in lectures, articles, essays, books, and at congressional hearings. Out of this process, they formulated views on the nature of conservation itself and why governmental agencies and private individuals should conserve.  Their ideas are as varied as the resources which they believe should be conserved.

This lesson introduces students to some historically significant leaders, thinkers, and artists of the early conservation movement through selections from their writings and art.   By exploring these selections students can formulate their own summaries of what each leader believed conservation was, why they thought it important, and what resources they thought were worthy of preservation. Interestingly, the range of resources and the arguments used have not changed a great deal over time and are commonly found in today's news.

Yet a shift in argumentation may be detected as one works from mid-nineteenth-century naturalists such as Henry David Thoreau to turn-of-the-century conservationists such as Gifford Pinchot and John Muir.  By 1900, the federal government had begun setting land aside for national parks and forests, and it became necessary for the federal government to formulate and defend policies governing its use as ranchers, miners, and foresters sought clarification and permission to access these lands and resources.

Federal grants of private access to such lands soon sparked opposition from men like John Muir and newly formed organizations such as the Sierra Club. In the debates which ensued, we find evolving positions which more clearly articulate both the similarities and differences between environmental advocates' views.  We also begin to see the "Conservation Movement," which had seemed to be unified in its goals, divide into conflicting factions. The core arguments and environmental philosophies formulated then have remained and are evident in present day debates over issues such as logging and mining on federal property.

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, the students will:

• identify nineteenth-century leaders and thinkers who influenced the formation of the "Conservation Movement;"
• gain an appreciation of the different ways "conservation" can be defined;
• understand specific differences and similarities between and among those who advocated conservation;
• identify natural resources singled out as being worthy of preservation between 1850 and 1920;
• understand arguments given to support the conservation of diverse resources;
• understand the similarities and differences between current and historical environmental positions;
• identify their own personal definition of what they think "conservation" should mean.

Time Required

Recommended Grade Level

Curriculum Fit

Standards

McREL 4th Edition Standards & Benchmarks

Civics
Standard 14. Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideals and reality in American political and social life

Geography
Standard 14. Understands how human actions modify the physical environment
Standard 16. Understands the changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution and importance of resources

Historical Understanding
Standard 2. Understands the historical perspective

Procedures

1. Identify which readings to duplicate and share with students.
2. Before distributing readings, have students identify the types of natural resources people currently are trying to preserve and why these people feel as they do. (What is a "natural resource? What arguments do they use to support their positions? Can people want to preserve the same things but for different reasons? Are some arguments "better" than others?)
3. Have students read selections, identifying both the resources and reasons given. (Which are the most compelling? Which do they personally agree with? What problems might the government have if it enacted laws supporting these positions? Who might oppose these positions / individuals and why?)
4. Compare the current with the historical. (What has changed or stayed the same? Do Americans value the same things today for the same reasons?)

Resources Used

Conservation Writers

• Mary Huston Gregory, "What is Conservation," chapter 1 of Checking the Waste; a Study in Conservation, 1911 (excerpt)
• Franklin B. Hough, On the Duty of Governments in the Preservation of Forests , 1873
• George P. Marsh, "An Address Delivered before the Agricultural Society of Rutland County, Sept. 30, 1847"
• John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra; with illustrations from drawings made by the author in 1869 and from photographs by Herbert W. Gleason
• John Muir, "The Wild Parks and Forest Reservations of the West," chapter 1 of Our National Parks, 1901 (excerpt)
• Gifford Pinchot, "The Present Battle," chapter 12 of The Fight for Conservation, 1910 (excerpt)
• Henry David Thoreau, "Walking," from Excursions, 1863 (excerpt)
• Charles Richard Van Hise, "History of the Conservation Movement," chapter 1 of The Conservation of Natural Resources in the United States, 1910 (excerpt)

Note: the links below will take you to a Library of Congress American Memory record for the documents. The actual documents appear on page images, which are linked from the record page.

• Congressional Debate of "An Act to Protect the Birds and Animals in Yellowstone Park . . ., 1894
• Surveying the Public Lands, 1898
  Specifies that the purpose of forest reservations is "to improve and protect the forest within the reservation, or for . . . securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber for the use and necessities of citizens of the United States," and stipulates that the regulated harvesting of timber, mining of mineral resources, and use of water on forest reservations may be permitted by the Secretary of the Interior.
• "An Act For the preservation of American antiquities." [S. 4698, Public Act No. 209], 190)
  Authorizes the President "to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks . . . and other objects of historic or scientific interest" on government land "to be national monuments;" forbids unauthorized injury of objects of antiquity on Government lands; and authorizes the granting of Federal permits for the study of objects of antiquity on such lands.

Extension