By 1900, some American scientists, political leaders, and business elites
were becoming concerned about the depletion of the nation's forest, soil,
mineral, and water resources. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
Americans tended to view their natural environment as something to be mastered
and exploited. This attitude not only encouraged the westward movement and
the settlement of the nation from ocean to ocean; it also led to the free use of
natural resources.
Prior to the rise of the conservation movement,
Americans cut forests, leaving denuded landscapes in the wake of timbering
operations. Farmers grew crops until the soil could no longer nourish
them, used water resources freely without much thought to conservation or
purity, and eagerly looked to the discovery and exploitation of mineral
resources.
These traditions began to change as the nation industrialized and
urbanized. As early as the late eighteenth century, planters such as
George Washington were experimenting with crop rotation and trying to discover
soil conservation and restoration techniques. By the nineteenth century,
growing cities developed waterworks to supply clean water. Gradually some Americans were developing an awareness of the importance of the conservation of
natural resources.
Conservation emerged as a form of applied
science. Conservation leaders came from fields like forestry, agronomy,
geology, and hydrology. Leaders from these scientific fields brought their
expertise into federal resource policy, especially during the presidency of
Theodore Roosevelt.
The conservation movement of the early twentieth century was different from
the environmental movement of the late twentieth century. The conservation
movement arose at the beginning of the century, while the environmental movement
arose after 1950. The conservation movement was also different than
the preservation movement. Conservation involved the scientific planning
of the use of natural resources, while preservation involved keeping natural
areas pristine and wild.
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