Summary Of Environmental Ethics By The Late 1800s

Karl Jacoby. Crimes against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves, and the Hidden History of American Conservation. Berkley: University of California, 2001.

Land is a natural resource that is often mistreated due to human activities. If we learned anything from our past, it is that history leads the same course for those who misuses the environment. Therefore the government have gone through extreme preventative measures to protect our environment by designating “Wild lands”. The Bureau of Land Management (BML) is given the power to designate wild lands and control the use of it. Much controversy have arisen since then and the debate on whether or not Wild Lands are harming rural economies is still ongoing. Mike Mckee, a speaker at the House Natural Resources Hearing Committee, fought against designated wild lands because he believed it was creating an economic crisis. Land that was once used

One of America’s greatest conservation achievements is the Wilderness Act of 1964. Fifty-two years later, this act has a legacy to withhold. A legacy that meant something in 1964 and remains the same today: to protect unspoiled land. Even though, through this act millions of acres have been conserved, the key word is continue. That is why America should pass laws to preserve the wilderness before developers spoil them.

In June 1864 the Yosemite Land Grant was signed by Abraham Lincoln, which deeded 39,000 acres of the Mariposa Big Tree Grove and Yosemite Valley to the State of California (Hawken 40). It was an unprecedented piece of legislation, having almost universal support from private business, environmentalists and Congress. Sparked largely by the de-barking of “The Mother of the Forest”, one of the oldest sequoias in Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove, several years earlier (Hawken 39). The Yosemite Land Grant was the first piece of legislation founded on the principle that nature needed to be preserved and protected from humans (Hawken 40). After nearly a century of clearing many forests on the East Coast, affording protection to land on the West Coast was a novel concept.

This is something that we have attempted to change over time, but have not stopped. Theodore Roosevelt called for Americans to consider conservation of the environment, but focused on the conservation of resources over the conservation of ecosystems and indigenous species. (as cited in Merchant, 2012, pp. 333-334). This type of logical use conservation is typical in American history. We have had a strong history of avid hunters supporting the conservation of animals so that their species would remain available to sportsmen. One example of this is John James Audubon. Audubon was an avid hunter. He killed birds in mass numbers in his research in Florida (as cited in Merchant, 2012, pp.178-180). However the famous Audubon Society is the organization responsible for hiring and paying Guy Bradley, the first game warden in the Florida everglades (McIver, 2003). Hunters have an interest in preserving the species they desire to hunt, and in this desire they require natural ecosystems be protected. This protection of the ecosystem ensures that their valued game stays available for hunting. However, women were at the forefront of the conservation movement in many states. Carolyn Merchant describes women’s groups across the country protecting different facets of the environment. One example was the Audubon movement created in opposition to the plume industry. These movements helped create legislation that helped protect some plume birds as early as 1913. (Merchant, 2012, pp.355-363). Eventually the land that was being conserved for eventual use were slowly being transformed into protected parks that are intended to preserve the scenery and its plant and animal inhabitants for the future. The National Parks Act of 1916 was the first to establish large national parks in the United States (as cited in Merchant, 2012, pp.371-372).

When Americans think of nature images of the wild west, wide open plains, and majestic landscapes spring forth. Nature is part of the American heritage; a site of beauty set aside for preservation outside the industrial cities that encompasses daily life. Because of this segregation between nature and man, it is easy to forget that everything on the planet is nature, not simply the parks set aside for preservation and egos. Throughout American history, dating as far back as the indigenous people, this connection between man and the natural world has been prevalent. By examining the the conservationist movement of the twentieth century and the impact Americans have had on the environment, there is a chance to close the chasm that now exists

In the introduction of Andrew Light and Holmes Rolston’s book , Environmental Ethics: An Anthology, the authors explain the basic concepts of ethics: more specifically environmental ethics, and how they apply to everyday life. The main concepts discussed include moral agents, moral patients, anthropocentrism, weak or broad anthropocentrism, indirectly morally considerable, and directly morally considerable. These concepts are the foundations to the environmental ethics that Light and Rolston wrote about; however, in regards to the short story written by J. Lanham titled: “Hope and Feathers: A crisis in birder identification,” the two terms most predominately relating to the text are moral patients and moral agents. Lanham, in this text, describes the epitome of what it means to be a good moral agent, as interpreted by Light and Rolston, where others failed.

John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government is one of the most influential works in the modern political canon. In the wake of the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution, Locke analyzes the origins and duties of government. Locke’s ideas of inalienable rights and natural equality are the classical enunciation of liberalism. His writings have impacted political institutions across the globe, including the American Constitution. In this paper, I will argue that, although Locke’s conception of property rights is not realized in current American environmental policy, his ideas could be realistically implemented.

Everyday we put tons of pollution into the air, water and ground. Our population is growing each day and in turn urbanization is expanding. Teddy Roosevelt, being an avid outdoorsmen, knew the importance of setting land aside for posterity sake and in doing do set a trend for later presidents. When Richard Nixon set land aside in Alaska, which became the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), he set it aside to be never tainted by industrialization. Today republicans and some democrats want to repeal the title of National Wildlife Refuge and drill there for oil. This could have adverse effects for wildlife and the Inuit natives that call the ANWR and surrounding area home. In this paper I will

For decades, scholars have tackled the complicated task of educating the public on American environmental policies and the politics. Walter Rosenbaum, as the author of Environmental Politics and Policy, debates the environmental issues and matters facing this nation. The book provides insight into America’s institutions and processes of environmental policy making, as well as the constant transformations and effects that go along with it. The book is significant in terms of the vast and diverse sources the author pulls from. The information is challenging to comprehend, however, Rosenbaum succeeds in explaining the major questions and debatable topics.

How people’s views of nature have changed over time in the United States of America and how it has affected us is a great question. Looking back through history makes it simple to answer this question. People have very different opinions on to what their answer would be. Reading Out of the Woods edited by Char Miller and Hal Rothman, Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s by Donald Worstter, Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West by William Cronon, The Ecological Indian by Shepard Krech III, and Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal by Silas House makes it easy to comprehend and to answer how our views of nature have changed.

The debate over preservation and conservation of the natural resources has been going on for almost a hundred years, with little conclusion. The government of the United States, along with advocates from each state, need to reach a consensus to provide methods of conservation to the country that prevents wasteful usage of nonrenewable and natural resources and leaves wilderness for later generations to

In 2008, the United States declared the polar bears an endangered species. Endangered species is defined as “a species at risk of extinction because of human activity, changes in climate, and changes in predator-prey ratios…” (Dictionary). Andrew Derocher, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta, recalls that 30 years ago polar bears “could be seen up and down the icy shores of the Hudson Bay”, however within that time frame, their numbers decreased significantly to the point that they were added to the list by an environmental change that greatly impacts Earth (Palmer). 30 years ago, the population was above 100,000 polar bears, and now that population has dropped between 15,000 and 20,000 (Palmer). Derocher believes that “human-caused global warming is causing the Arctic Sea, the bears’ habitat and hunting ground, to melt and decline” (Palmer). In order to prevent any further damage to the environment, one must consider the ethics when addressing climate change. To do so, I have decided to look into how climate change affects biodiversity, our home, and why some believe that climate change doesn’t exist and possible solutions to better improve the environment to solve the climate change problem.

Wolves certainly are one of the most beautiful and high-in-the-food-chain predators. And it was almost 30,000 BCE when mankind first decided to change those creatures’ path: we domesticated then, used them for transportation and, today, we call their latest offspring our best friends. If we treat our puppies like human babies nowadays, some almost a hundred years ago we were barbaric in our way to treat Yellowstone National Park’s wolves: we decimated the park’s wolf population with the goal to protect park’s visitors. What was clearly an anthropocentrist act is now being corrected by the reintroduction of wild wolves into the park’s ecosystem; based on Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethics, I believe that choice was an assertive one. Humans should do everything in their power to exercise their unique rationalization capacity by valuing other creatures and promoting the equilibrium between men and nature.

Planetary management worldview, this view basically means that the reason nature exists is to meet our needs and the world 's ever increasing increasing wants