The Conservation Reform Movement

Per. 6, Language Arts

IntroductoryThesis: Between the 1800s and 1900s, people supported the Conservation Movement to preserve nature and its land and resources from getting destroyed. They did all they could to save the forests, protect wildlife, and prevent air and water pollution.

The purpose, or the big idea, of the Conservation Movement was to preserve an area of the U.S. to keep it from getting ruined in the future. They didn’t want the natural land to get destroyed from buildings, pollution, and etc. They wanted to keep the landmarks they found when they first discovered it. They didn’t want natural resources and wildlife to get destroyed by future industrial processes. They want to keep its originality and keep everything natural so no one in the future can mess its beauty.This project and topic goes across the discipline because

it relates to history, language arts, and science. It involves history because of the people and time period. It’s English related because of the project prompt. Lastly, it’s related to science because of the nature, environment, and ecosystem involved in this movement.

Major

Issues One pro

blem the Conse

rvation Moveme

nt wanted

to prevent was

running out o

f natural natural

resources.resources. The

y didn’t want

to run out of

land and soils

to plant crop

s. They didn’t

want forests t

o get cleared

to use wood.

Lastly, they d

id want to kee

p their water

resources for

fish and water

. The most

important one

was wood. That

’s why they

wanted to prot

ect the forest

s from being

wiped out for

industrial bus

iness. For

example, the Y

osemite Nation

al Park was

created to pro

tect nature’s

biggest trees.

Another thin

g the Conser

vation

Movement wan

ted to preve

nt is air air

pollutionpollution. T

he factories

and child

labors they

had had caus

ed a lot

of smoke. Th

ey wanted to

keep it

from getting

worse and f

ouling the

air. Secondh

and smoke wa

s and

isn’t good f

or your lung

s and does

not help peo

ple with ast

hma.

Conservation

ists didn’t

just care

about animal

s but the pe

ople

around them.

They wanted

to keep

the clean ai

r they breat

he from

turning into

filthy smok

e and

chemicals.

The Conservati

onists wanted

to preserve

wildlifewildlife. The

y feared of an

imals going

extinct and ge

tting hunted t

oo much. At

the time, anim

als were getti

ng killed

for food and j

ust for their

fur. Some

animals were h

unted for food

and other

were hunted to

be made into

clothing and

accessories. T

hey wanted to

stop this

from going ove

rboard and mak

ing the

animals go end

angered or ext

inct. In

addition, anim

als were also

disappearing

because their

natural habit

ats were

getting destro

yed. For examp

les, forests

and oceans. It

’s kind of lik

e a chain

reaction.

The Conservati

on Movement al

so

wanted to pres

erve water water

resourcesresources. For

example, lake

s,

rivers, ponds,

and so on. Th

ey

didn’t want th

em from gettin

g

polluted and d

ammed. The ben

efit

of having clea

n water is for

irrigation, fo

r animals to l

ive,

and just the b

eauty of it.

Wouldn’t you w

ant to drink c

lean

water, live in

clean water,

and

see clean wate

r? I would!

This movement did the right things to prevent all the wrong things that would ruin the future.

Air pollution

forests

wildlife

wildlife

Key People JOHN MUIR was the founder of the

Sierra Club and the first person to start the Conservation Reform Movement. He’s like the “father” of national parks and is America’s most famous and influential conservationist. Muir was the 1st president of the Sierra Club. He created the club to “do something for the wilderness and make the mountains glad.” He also wrote and published articles for further protection of Yosemite. Before the Conservation, Muir was an inventor of clocks but gave that up to study “the inventions of God.”

INCREASE LAPHAM was the founder and members of many Conservation organizations in Wisconsin. He would keep records of the environment and write books about them. Basically, he wanted to preserve wildlife and state forests like other Conservationists. He did so by writing books for others to read about the idea of Conservation. He wrote up to 80 books, articles, maps, and pamphlets on the Conservation --- mostly forest conservation.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT helped a lot with Conservation Reform Movement. As president, he projected the movement to a lot of people. In his lifetime, he preserved 150 national forests, 5 National Parks, and 51 Federal Bird Reservations. Later on, he created 4 National Game Preserves, 18 National Monuments, 25 Reclamation Projects, and a lot more. As you can see, Teddy Roosevelt was big on the Conservation Movement.

GIFFORD PINCHOT encouraged protection of national forests. He was also known as the “father” of American Conservation because of his great concern for protection of state forests. He was very passionate about forests. He gave up his family business to study his love for forestry. In, 1898, he became head of the Division of Forestry. In addition, President Theodore Roosevelt named him Chief Forester for the U.S. Forest Service. He collaborated with Roosevelt a lot during this movement.

The term Conservationists is used for people who supported the Conservation Movement.The term forestry is used for a study of forests.

All these people sought different ways to help with the Conservation Movement.

Roosevelt was a big trend and influence because he supported the movement during his presidency so he projected it in front of a big audience.

LiteratureThe literature that came out of this movement were a lot of books and a few essays. Here are some of them:

Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency: The Progressive Conservation MovementBy: Samuel P. Hays

Wilderness and the American MindBy: Roderick Nash

“America’s First Environmental Challenge” in Essays on the Gilded AgeBy: H. Wayne Morgan

The literature is still out and around today. It can be found in libraries and book stores. It’s persuading people who are reading it or at least informing them about the idea of the Conservation Reform Movement. There are people who agree with the movement and others who may not.

The Conservationists would try and spread the word with their thoughts on the movement.“There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite…our people should see that they are preserved for their children and their children…with beauty all unmarred.” –Teddy Roosevelt“I loved the woods and everything about them.” –Gifford Pinchot"Let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life." –John MuirPlus all the literature that came out of the movement.

This movement was a failure but then again a success. It failed because today, there’s still

animal extinction, pollution, and global warming. However, I give everyone props for

trying and still supporting what I think is a good cause. It’s also a success because today,

there’s all sorts of national parks and organizations to help support this movement. They protect the forests and animals. There’s new laws that tolerate no pollution, animal abuse, and etc. We’ve succeeded over time too because we have a lot more people “going green” nowadays. We

recycle, help save animals, and more. I mean, we haven’t solved all the issues completely but it’s

at least a start.

HOW DID THE MOVEMENT PERSUADE PEOPLE THAT THEIR IDEA WAS A GOOD ONE?

WAS THE MOVEMENT A SUCCESS OR FAILURE? HOW DO YOU KNOW?

Other Questions???

Did the Conservationists suspect global warming??? Was there the “recycling” process to help save

trees back then??? What did people do to save the animals??? Today, we

have zoos and organizations to shelter the animals. Did they have laws against littering and/or

dumping??? Today, we have fines for anyone who litters.

Did this movement involve any petitions, protests, assemblies, or even riots???

Other questions that a researcher may ask about the Conservation Movement

If you were alive during this movement, would you have been involved? Why or why not?

Knowing the environment situations today, yes I would be involved in the Conservation Reform Movement back then. The people who supported this movement are correct about everything. Today, there’s forests being cleared, animals going endangered or extinct, there’s water polluted, the grounds are being littered or run over to have turned into cities, and the air is filled with smoke and chemicals. If I was alive when John Muir or Theodore Roosevelt were, I would definitely support them with their services for protecting nature. They tried to do the world a favor by protecting it from getting wrecked. If I could prevent the bad things today that evolved into global warming, I sure will join the movement.The environment and ecosystem has changed overtime because

like the paragraph said, there’s forests being cleared, animals going extinct, and so on going on today. When back then, everything was so fresh, clean, and natural.

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N.p., 18 Dec 2009. Web. 10 Feb 2011. http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/people/Pinchot/Pinchot.aspx. McNamara, Robert. "John Muir - Biography of John Muir, National Parks Advocate, Father of Conservation Movement." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb 2011. http://history1800s.about.com/od/americanoriginals/a/johnmuirbio.htm. "National Park History Service: Antiquities Act of 1906." History E-Library. N.p., 29 Nov 2004. Web. 09 Feb 2011. http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/hisnps/npshistory/antiq.htm. "The Conservation Movement." Wisconsin Historical Society. N.p., 2011. Web. 07 Feb 2011. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-033/?action=more_essay. "The John Muir Exhibit - The Sierra Club." Sierra Club. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb 2011. http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/. "The Progressive Movement." United States History. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb 2011. http://www.u-s- history.com/pages/h1061.html