from conservation to ecology: the development of environmental concern

from conservation to ecology: the development of environmental concern
Author/editor: Professor Carroll Pursell
Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell Company Inc
Year published: 1973
School/Centre: School of History

Abstract

The purpose of this volume is to present a narrative account (necessarily somewhat episodic) of the development of American concern for the environment.  The organization is largely chronological, moving from the wilderness through the first conservation crusade of the early twentieth century to the rediscovery of the environmental problems in the post-World War II era.

The major controversy among historians in this area is over the nature of that first conservation movement - did its "progressive" nature grow out of its democratic rhetoric or out of its bureaucratic practice?  Although the subsequent events, men, and movements are not without controversy, this controversy is more polemical than scholarly.  Historians have hardly begun to study the later period, and in the meantime we can merely indicate some of those points that are likely to be disputed.

Finally, although values are not ignored completely, the emphasis here is upon public policy.  The popular Pogoism that "we have met the enemy and his is us" is much too simple and misleading an analysis of the crisis that faces America.  Like racism, ecocide may well grow out of values - but it certainly manifests itself in policies and their institutional embodiments.

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