Sierra Club: A Land Ethic

The Progressive Era was a period of social activism and political reform that grew from the 1890s to the 1920s. Social reformers and journalists, like Jane Addams, Jacob Riis, and Ida Tarbell were some of the powerful voices for progressivism. “They concentrated on exposing the evils of corporate greed, combating fear of immigrants, and urging Americans to think hard about what democracy meant.” Many progressive reformers wanted to end corruption in the government, regulate business practices, address health hazards, and improve working conditions. It was also an era of conservationists. Conservationists are people who protect and preserve the environment and wildlife. Throughout the Progressive Era, there were many conservationists who wrote and described nature, but the most well-known figure in conservation was John Muir. John Muir worked to protect Earth’s beauty by traveling and exploring nature, co-founding the Sierra Club, and by influencing others through his writings and by showing some of the most important people how the wildlife was magnificent.

Growing up in Switzerland and Oregon, I learned that nature is greatly valued and it is necessary to respect the environment to prevent impending environmental collapse. Living in a society whose morals and ethics include

On the other hand, U.S. Bureau Land Management (BLM) is a federal government agency under the U.S Department of the Interior. The agency administers 253 million acres of America's public land. Moreover, BLM manages 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estates, which is underlying federal, state, and private lands. Moreover, the USGS (United States Geological Survey) is a federal government agency under the U.S Department of the Interior. The agency was created to protect human life and environment. Typically, the Geological Survey Agency also performs survey, research and investigations covering geology, topography, hydrology, mineral, biology and water resources for the U. S government.

In the United States, there are millions of acres of land dedicated to our national parks. Over half of the states in our country have land dedicated to national parks, and according to Linda J. Bilmes and John Loomis, the National Parks Service protects 412 of these places. The amount of land dedicated to these parks is quite a considerable amount and it has drawn the attention of the federal government. The government believes there should be cut backs on the amount of land dedicated to places such as Yellowstone and Ellis Island. However, if these parks, monuments, etc. were to be reduced in size, the United States would lose protection of a magnitude of important things such as areas of land and water, animal habitats, historical sites, monuments, and areas sacred to

The 1970’s represent a pivotal point in history that rewrote how America viewed its environmental policies- both on a policymaker and citizen scientist standpoint. As the public became more aware of environmental issues, concern about pollution, improper disposal, dwindling resources, radiation and poisoning enraptured a growing number of supporters. These supporters made it so that unlike the Progressive Era’s conservation movement (1890’s-1920’s), which was mainly elitists, this modern movement was pushed by “the common man.” It was an era that celebrated leaders such as John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas Jefferson. One of those leaders in the forefront of these radical changes was Congressman Morris K.

Leopold expresses, “a system of conservation based solely on economic self-interest is hopelessly lopesided,” (p. 251). The self-interest economists who are only interested in the profit of which they gain from the land cannot spread the importance of the respect for the community. The people who share a knowledge and passion for the environment will educate those who are unaware. As well as being educated on the land, it is essential for humanity to understand that we are not users of what Earth has to offer us, but associates,

The abundance of natural resources on public lands managed by the BLM throughout California support the BLM’s multiple-use mission, while providing important economic benefits to Californians and the nation.

The BlueGreen Alliance is a partnership that is made through design. This partnership is between labor unions and environmental organizations to expand jobs with cleaner and more efficient resources. The Sierra Club joined with the United Steel Workers to form BlueGreen Alliance in 2006; however The Sierra Club has supported workers’ rights since the 1960s.

Arguments aren't always a bad thing. As Stuart Greene once said," Arguments are like conversations," what he means is that we take an issue, choose a side, and back it up with evidence to get our points across in order to inform others. Which is exactly what Scott Russel Sanders does in his Novel "A Conservationist Manifesto", Sanders tries to inform the public as much as he can of how we are contributing to harming the environment and why we should take a stand in order to protect it. The novel is comprised of 15 essays, the essays range from criticism of capitalism to the idea of returning to the olden days of being Quakers. The essays tie back to the main idea, that it is ultimately down to each individual to make a difference.

The Sierra Club is a national organization dedicated to the preservation of the environment. Founded in 1892 in California by conservationist John Muir, the Club is made up of 750,000 people devoted to the exploration, enjoyment, and the protection of the natural environmental. Headquartered in San Francisco, it has numerous state and regional chapters taking part in the fight for protection.

What exactly is land ethics? According to Leopold, “Land ethics expands the boundaries of ethics by including soils, waters, plants, and animals,” (Leopold, page 239). However, a land ethic cannot prevent the alteration, management, and the use of the resources stated above. Basically, Leopold states that land ethics change the role that we humans play from that of a land-conqueror to that of a citizen and member. In class, we learned that land ethics imply respect for the surrounding community. We as humans are important, and thus, have more responsibility to protect the environment.

Aldo Leopold and Schaeffer have both been key contributors to my beliefs and opinions and they have helped me shape my own personal land ethic. In Leopold’s essay titled The Land Ethic he makes several great points. Among these I have found the community concept, substitutes for a land ethic and the future outlook to be the most important. Leopold states, “All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts”(p.2). As humans we have a job and typically we show care for the things that we really like and enjoy. But a question we need to ask ourselves is who do we love and what do we care about? We live in community with everything around us including the plants, and all

We should promote the conservation of our ecologies by reducing the amount of waste that goes directly into the environment and promoting green thinking and living all across the world. For instance, we could protect our environment by reducing the amount of cattle that feed in a certain area and by prohibiting the introduction of alien-invasive species as they deplete minerals and food in the soil for other plants to consume.

The Twentieth Century conservationists like John Muir and Gifford Pinchot always argued that it was important for the government of the day to strike a balance between the two conflicting goals of economic development and environmental conservation. According to Menzel (2007; 3- 4), other environmental movements in the USA had been in constant conflict with industrial enterprises. The major root cause of conflict being the fact that industrial enterprises had ignored the fact their activities were hurting the environment through

Humans and nature live together on the planet earth. Unfortunately, humans have destroyed much of our own environment. There are groups of people who stand up and fight big corporations and other contributors that pollute and destroy the environment. Greenpeace is one of these organizations. They fight against many problems concerning our environment. Their organization is worldwide and they have had a great impact on conserving our global community.