lecture 3
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The Modern Environmental Movement. Lecture 3. 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) - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Lecture 3The Modern Environmental
Movement
Lecture 3: Outline
I. Species of the day
II. Beginnings of the Conservation Movement
III.The Green Decade
IV.The Endangered Species Act (1973)
V. The 1980’s and the Post 9/11 World
VI.The Rise of New Conservation Strategies (Ecosystem Management)
VII.The Conservation Movement Today (Our Next President?)
Species of the Day
Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis)
Threats:•Habitat loss•Habitat fragmentation•Increased predation•Exposure to disease•Increased competition for resources
Conservation Status:Endangered, USFWS, 1998
Beginnings of the Conservation Movement
Forest Reserve Act (1891)
1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2004
Romantic-TranscendentalismThoreauEmerson
Preservationist EthicMuir Resource Conservation
Ethic - Pinchot
Evolutionary-ecological land ethic
Leopold
1985Society of
Conservation Biology
EcosystemManagement
Anthropocentrism
Beginnings of the Conservation Movement
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
Romantic Transcendentalism (early to mid-1800’s)
Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau
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
Beginnings of the Conservation Movement
Forest Reserve Act (1891)
1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2004
Romantic-TranscendentalismThoreauEmerson
Preservationist EthicMuir Resource Conservation
Ethic - Pinchot
Evolutionary-ecological land ethic
Leopold
1985Society of
Conservation Biology
EcosystemManagement
Anthropocentrism
Beginnings of the Conservation Movement
• 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.
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
Preservationist Ethic
Beginning of the Conservation Movement
Forest Reserve Act (1891)
1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2004
Romantic-TranscendentalismThoreauEmerson
Preservationist EthicMuir Resource Conservation
Ethic - Pinchot
Evolutionary-ecological land ethic
Leopold
1985Society of
Conservation Biology
EcosystemManagement
Anthropocentrism
Beginning of the Conservation Movement
Gifford Pinchot(1865-1946)
• 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
“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.”
Pinchot quotes:
Resource Conservation
Evolutionary/Ecological Land Ethic:
Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)
• 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
Beginning of the Conservation Movement
The Green Decade (1970-1980)• 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)
The Endangered Species Act (1973)
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.
“ 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 1980’s and the Post 9/11 World
• 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
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
New Conservation Approaches
• 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.
Ecosystem Management:
New Conservation Approaches
Ecosystem Management:
The Conservation Movement Today
http://www.grist.org/candidate_chart_08.html
Our Next President?
Obama\McCain Environmental Comparison