Emelie McKain Environmental Studies 339 3/6/09 Lecture Paper As a young American, it is vital to live as a conscientious citizen. To do this, one must be knowledgeable about the decisions they make that impact others and their surroundings. The history of the American conservation movement may not be at the forefront of Americans minds, but outcomes of it affect how we live every day. As a young American, it is the responsibility of our generation to make informed decisions about where our society is headed, and have an active part in it. Studying the history of the American conservation movement is important for citizens because it gives us the power to become better global citizens, by making decisions based on knowledge about what has worked, and has not worked, in fixing our environment. The government started to step in during the late 1800?s when the first state parks were created in order to protect watersheds from disappearing with the growing American population. Government regulated land use was one thing that continued through the conservation movement, and for a reason; it worked. The creation of national parks and wildlife preserves not only generated a means for the human construct of nature to survive and flourish on its own, but a place for Americans to go to enjoy it, escape the ever growing society that they were a part of. John Muir says it best noting, ?Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountain is going home; that wilderness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life? (Muir 1901). The fact that creating land preservations had a positive impact on both the environment and citizens was a recipe for success. As a citizen, knowing the history behind government land management history helps us to be better global citizens. With the knowledge of what organizations are the behind the scenes forces in creating and maintaining land preserves and parks, we have the proper information to act in a way that helps to keep nature a part of our lives. That could be in the form of visiting national parks or wildlife refuges, helping to maintain a local nature preserve, or even thinking about how your life actions connect to the plants and animals living in them. The conservation movement in the United States has been going on for centuries. Henry David Thoreau was one of the first outright activists when he moved to Walden Pond in 1845 in order to better connect with nature. Over time, many others have acted in the name of the environment in order to increase not only awareness but action to preserve our surroundings. Media, whether on the local or national scale has a direct correlation to the effectiveness of action on behalf of the environment. Media attention has helped many causes in environmental justice cases in the 21st century. According to Bullard in his piece on environmental justice in the 21st century, peaceful direct action with the help of media attention can be one of the best ways to get a point to the masses and people thinking and acting on your causes? behalf. This method of environmental activism has worked in the past, and therefore knowledge of what past activists have done and how they used the media to inflict action on others helps people today in acting upon previous knowledge of what works. The media can also have a very negative effect on actions made on behalf of the environment. People today look back on their studying of the conservation movement relating to eco terrorism, and can use the knowledge that this kind of activism does not work as well to influence their own actions today. Jeffrey Luers was involved in the burning of three SUV?s in Eugene Oregon to raise awareness of global warming and the part that these types of cars played in it within the United States. The national media grabbed onto this story and called Luers an eco terrorist, making him out to be radical and compared him to Al Queada. This kind of media attention has given the American conservation movement a bad reputation over time. Knowledge of this and the study of how he was made into a political example in American society can prevent this kind of negative attention to environmental activists in the future. To become a better global citizen, we have to act, but act in a smart manner. What Luers did surely got his message out to the masses, but he was also labeled a radical because of the way he carried out his message. People that have studied eco terrorism in the American conservation movement?s past can draw upon this instance when thinking about how to effectively get their message out to people in a positive manner, one that will promote the recipient to join their cause, and not separate themselves from it. The environmental conservation movement in the United States reached the minds of many when the passenger pigeon became extinct in 1914. Americans succeeded in depleting this natural resource from billions in numbers to extinction in just a few decades and as noted in Price?s Flight Maps, ?This species became extinct through the avarice and thoughtlessness of man? (Price 1999). Natural resources throughout the world are not infinite, as younger citizens of the world have come to realize much quicker than our predecessors. Studying the extinction of the passenger pigeon and American?s depletion of other natural resources throughout time affects the way young people think and act today by giving them a conscience on which to base their decisions on. By taking action and making decisions to help the environment and save irreplaceable resources, we are becoming better global citizens. Knowledge about conservation history and how our ancestors thought that resources were infinite until they ran out provides us with a head up on our ancestors. We have seen the results of ignorance, have the information, and have the power to use that information for good use and act in ways that help our environment and all those that live in it. The American conservation movement has been going on for centuries, and now more than ever is in the forefront of people?s minds. As our world reaps the benefits of both the failed and succeeded parts of the movement, it is up to young global citizens to act on behalf of the earth, to better everyone?s situation. In order to do that though, study of the history of how the world got to where it is today is vital. We have to make conscious choices and act on premises that we have learned from past conservation movements in order to make sure our future environmental endeavors are those that succeed. Works Cited Bullard, Robert D. Environmental Justice in the Twenty-first Century. Sierra Club Books. San Francisco. Luers, John (2005). A Brief Description of Radical Environmentalism. Muir, John (1901). Our National Parks. Price, Jennifer (1999). Flight Maps: Missed Connections: The Passenger Pigeon Extinction. New York.
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