1conservation

=Period 1=

The Problem(s)
During the progressive era, people started to look at the environment differently. Instead of just more land for expansion, people started to worry about the land, rivers, forests, and mineral resources.

- Forestlands now had only 200,000 acres, compared to what it used to have, 800,000. - When minerals were taken out of the land, usually the surrounding land was destroyed. - Industrial dyes and other waste materials were being dumped into rivers and streams. - Animals were not protects as much as they should have been.

All of this careless **pollution used up most of our resources**, yet no one seemed to care about protecting our environment.

The Solution(s)
Have the public contribute to the conservation of our environment, to try and stop **pollution**. There should be a **conference on conservation** including scientists, newspapermen, and other government leaders, so that they can discuss problems. The resources of each state should be studied, and be preserved. The federal government should support the cause of more land being set up as **wildlife sanctuaries and parks**, and less land sold. Some state laws should be passed to help regulate the use of public lands, forests, and rivers. Fishing and hunting should be limited to the public, and animals should be protected. President Roosevelts concern for nature was Influenced by **John Muir** and **Gifford Pinchot.**

[[image:http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Images/DBImages/2910/291077w.jpg]]
A picture of John Muir (left) and Theodore Roosevelt (right) on Glacier Point at Yosemite National park.

Gifford Pinchot was one of the pioneers of conservation during the progressive era.

It is hard to see, but this picture showsTheodore Roosevelt as a cook at the School for the Preservation of Natural Resources.

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The Primary Sources

 * "Of all the questions which can come before this nation, short of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants that it is for us, and training them into a better race to inhabit the land and pass it on. Conservation is a great moral issue, for it involves the patriotic duty of insuring the safety and continuance of the nation." ~Theodore Roosevelt  "Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed."  ~Wallace Stegner ||

The Citations
Green Conservation handout from class

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