Notes From Bob Mazelow on US History:

Preservation or Conservation

During the last decade of the nineteenth century, Frederick Jackson Turner wrote a thesis about the closing of the frontier in American life. This was at the same time the industrial revolution was underway and industry had a tremendous need to consume natural resources. Americans began to value the wilderness, but at the same time, there was a conflict over how this land was to be used.

This conflict was dramatically played out by two men: John Muir, the preservationist, and Gifford Pinchot, the conservationist. The resolution of their philosophical differences about land use had a far-reaching impact on the American landscape. The results can be seen in Muir's legacy of preserving areas where people could enjoy the poetry of nature, which led to the establishment of the National Parks Service and the Sierra Club to fight for wilderness protection. Pinchot, on the other hand, espoused a utilitarian approach to responsible use of nature, and left his mark by establishing the U.S. Forest Service and promoting the conservation of huge tracts of Federal forest land.

This milestone in American history becomes a focus of my teaching in U.S. History. We trace the preservation/

conservation movement from the Muir/Pinchot controversy at the turn of the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, when we examine the land ethic expressed in Aldo Leopold's book A Sand County Almanac. Finally, we examine environmental issues today, including the Elwha Dam controversy, the preservation of old-growth forest, and the California Desert Protection Act.

We focus on the questions that John Muir and Gifford Pinchot debated and that are just as relevant today:

How much land should be set aside for preservation?

How much for economic development?

The students are given a chart that helps them focus on the

philosophy of key players in the conservation/preservation

movement in U.S. history. The result of the lesson is to educate students about the continuing controversy over how best to use and manage land. The students gain an understanding of how compromise becomes essential to solving these difficult environmental problems.

Who Philosophy

Weakness Strength

MUIR

-Preservation

-Aesthetic

-Spiritual

How does it fits with human economic needs?

-Humans as a member of nature

-aesthetic

-not just economic

-no human interference

PINCHOT

-Conservation

-multi-use for humans

-economic gain

-responsible use of nature

-ecologically shortsighted

-economic only

-loss of species

-no provision for untouched land

-responsible utilization of nature

-realistic &

practical

ALDO LEOPOLD

-Land ethic

-conserve

-community of nature which man is a part of

-what is his solution?

-What method to use?

-Community that is interdepen-dent

-live in harmony with nature

-ecological education

ARTICLE