1. Environmental History What lessons can we learn from the past? What people have shaped the present course? The continent ages quickly once we come. Ernest Hemingway

2. 1500 1850 1870 1880 1906 The story of the Bison, one of unsustainable practices... What happened? Shrank due to unregulated and deliberate overhunting Who was responsible? Railroad companies Settlers Farmers How was the situation turned around? 85 bison were given refuge in Yellowstone Park Are there similar stories happening to animals today?

3. Stage one: Early Man What were the impacts of the hunter /gatherers on the environment? Nomadic Seasonal Lived in small groups High mortality/ short life span so the pop. grew slowly Later groups: used fire to clear land Some carried seeds with them to new places. Some large animals extinct due to their impacts.

4. Agricultural revolution: Positive or negative? People learned to plant and harvest food Began 10,000 -12,000 years ago (coincident with the beginning of our present climate) People became less mobile and more dependent on climate - the curse of Akkad When Sargon of Akkad created the world’s first empire 4,000 years ago, he thought none could conquer his powerful kingdom. He was wrong. A disastrous drought in Mesopotamia helped topple the Akkadian civilization.

5. Figure2-2 Page 22 3 Harvesting for 2 to 5 years 1 Clearing and burning vegetation 2 Planting 4 Allowing to revegetate 10 to 30 years Slash and Burn agriculture Plots were rotated and often left empty for several years

6. Agricultural Revolution Good NewsBad News More food Destruction of wildlife habitats from clearing forests and grasslands Longer life expectancy Fertile land turned into desert by livestock overgrazing Supported a larger population Formation of villages, towns, and cities Towns and cities served as centers for trade, government, and religion Killing of wild animals feeding on grass or crops Soil eroded streams and lakes Increase in armed conflict and slavery over ownership of land and water resources Towns and cities concentrated wastes and pollution and increased spread of diseases Higher standard of living for many people

7. The Industrial - Medical revolution Began mid 1700’s in England / US mid 1800’s What did it bring us? Healthier longer lives More technology Easier existence At what cost? Dependence on non- renewable resources People moved to the cities- health impacts Food had to travel to them

8. Industrial-Medical Revolution Trade-Offs Good NewsBad News Mass production of useful and affordable products Increased air pollution Longer life expectancy Soil depletion and degradation Greatly increased agricultural production Increased urbanization Lower rate of population growth Increased water pollution Groundwater depletion Habitat destruction and degradation Higher standard of living for many Lower infant mortality Increased waste pollution Biodiversity depletion

9. Information - Globalization Revolution Began 50 year ago (1950) New technologies Radio Television Computers and data bases

10. Information-Globalization Revolution Trade-Offs Good NewsBad News Remote-sensing satellite surveys of the world’s environmental systems Ability to respond to environmental problems more effectively and rapidly Globalized economy can increase environmental degradation by homogenizing the earth’s surface Globalized economy can decrease cultural diversity Computer-generated models and maps of the earth’s environmental systems Information overload can cause confusion and sense of hopelessness

11. I'll Just Plop Down Here! Mind Vacation

12. Baseball Card Activity 1.Richard Nixon 2.Theodore Roosevelt 3.Rachel Carson 4.Aldo Leopold 5.Gifford Pinchot (pronounced Pin o Shay) 6.John Muir 7.George W Bush 8.Henry David Thoreau

13. Timeline of US Environmental History 1800 -Present 1832 - 1870 Rapid growth causing unprecedented resource consumption and degradation.Two important figures who were concerned by the loss they saw around them. Henry David Thoreau - lived for two years at Walden Pond George Perkins Marsh - wrote Man and Nature Henry David Thoreau

14. Government and citizen involvement begins 1870 -1930 John Muir The resource act of 1891 Turning point in the federal government becoming involved. Formation of the Sierra Club. Preservationist movement

15. Golden Age of Conservation 1901 - 1909 Teddy Roosevelt National Forest System Gifford Pinchot directed 1865 -1946 Role of fire in the forest service and the American West National Park System 1916 The Antiquities Act 1906 allowed for the preservation of the Grand Canyon

16. 1930 - 1960 Depression and War What is war’s effect on the environment? Economy? National Priorities?

17. Conservation continues to Simmer Aldo Leopold - Sand County Almanac The early conservation movement. Forest service Wilderness Management Conservation and Environmental Movements

18. Second wave of national resource conservation Franklin D Roosevelt and CCC Built parks, roads, public works Examples Hoover dam Lake mead Roads and bridges Worked in national forests

19. 1960 - 2004 Environmental Era Rachel Carson - Silent Spring Triggered by major events DDT and the bald eagle Apollo Mission -1969 Oil Spill off the coast of Santa Barbara California - Earth day 1970 Protective measures put in place The Wilderness Act -1964 Nixon established the EPA -1970 Endangered Species Act -1973