Lecture 3

1. The Modern Environmental Movement Lecture 3

2. Species of the day • Beginnings of the Conservation Movement • The Green Decade • The Endangered Species Act (1973) • The 1980’s and the Post 9/11 World • The Rise of New Conservation Strategies (Ecosystem Management) • The Conservation Movement Today (Our Next President?) Lecture 3: Outline

3. Species of the Day Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) Conservation Status: Endangered, USFWS, 1998 • Threats: • Habitat loss • Habitat fragmentation • Increased predation • Exposure to disease • Increased competition for resources

4. Ecosystem Management PreservationistEthic Muir Resource Conservation Ethic - Pinchot 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2004 Anthropocentrism Romantic-Transcendentalism Thoreau Emerson 1985 Society of Conservation Biology Evolutionary-ecological land ethic Leopold Beginnings of the Conservation Movement Forest Reserve Act (1891)

5. 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

6. Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Romantic Transcendentalism (early to mid-1800’s) Beginnings of the Conservation Movement Viewed the natural world as a source not simply of material goods, but also of aesthetic satisfaction, philosophical insight, and spiritual solace. “A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measuresthe depth of his own nature.” ~ Thoreau

7. Ecosystem Management PreservationistEthic Muir Resource Conservation Ethic - Pinchot 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2004 Anthropocentrism Romantic-Transcendentalism Thoreau Emerson 1985 Society of Conservation Biology Evolutionary-ecological land ethic Leopold Beginnings of the Conservation Movement Forest Reserve Act (1891)

8. Preservationist Ethic • Intrinsic value of nature and typified in the romantic-transcendental movement. • Focused on the usefulness of resources as well. • Embodied the idea of preservation. • Established the Sierra Club. Beginnings of the Conservation Movement 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

9. Ecosystem Management PreservationistEthic Muir Resource Conservation Ethic - Pinchot 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2004 Anthropocentrism Romantic-Transcendentalism Thoreau Emerson 1985 Society of Conservation Biology Evolutionary-ecological land ethic Leopold Beginning of the Conservation Movement Forest Reserve Act (1891)

10. Resource Conservation • 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 Beginning of the Conservation Movement Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946) Pinchot quotes: “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.”

11. 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 • 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 Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)

12. 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)

13. 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.” The Green Decade (1970-1980) 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.

14. 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

15. 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 The 1980’s and the Post 9/11 World

16. 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

17. Ecosystem Management: New Conservation Approaches

18. Our Next President? Obama\McCain Environmental Comparison The Conservation Movement Today http://www.grist.org/candidate_chart_08.html