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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