Three waves of environmental policy:
(1) Land settlement and westward expansion from
the 1780s –1880s (intense resource use)
(2) Conservation and preservation starting in the late
1800s/early 1900s
(3) Environmental protection in the 1960s –70s.
General Land Ordinances of 1780s
federal control of newly acquired land, created grid system, encouraged settlement
Homestead Act of 1862
gave settlers land to improve and they would get the land permanently after five years
First Wave of environmental policy
A time of intense resource use with the primary goal of
economic growth and settlement.
The General Mining Act 1872
Any individual can stake a claim for $5
no royalties taken
John Muir
prominent
voice against resource extraction
and environmental destruction, led to the second wave
Second Wave of Environmental Policy
A time of conservation and preservation (1870s and onward)
preservationist
Land should be protected for
aesthetic and spiritual benefit
John Muir
Father of the National Park system
Gifford Pinchot
Established first forestry program in US, Advocated for using forest resources in a sustainable way, First Chief of the Forest Service (1905)
conservationist
The forests should be held the
government for all to benefit, we should manage
forest resources for sustainable use.
Theodore Roosevelt
Created the Forest Service in 1905 (‘Conservationist approach’), Recognized long-term benefit of land preservation
Bears Ears National Monument
Established by Obama using the American Antiquities Act
