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Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution actually took place about 10,000 years ago in 7987BC. -
Industrial Revolution
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Thomas Mathus makes prediction
He predicts that exponential growth would outspace linear food production, leading to starvation. -
John Muir
John Muir emigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1849 when he was only 11 years old. He is well known for walking a thousand miles from Indianapolis to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1892 he founded the Sierra Club. -
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
In this novel, Thoreau describes his experiences near Walden Pond. This is one of the best-known non-fiction books by an American author. -
Homestead Act
Abraham Lincoln signed this act inot law. Under it, 270 million acres of U.S. land were claimed and settled. -
Yellowstone National Park founded
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American Forestry Association founded
John Aston Warder helped to found this association which was formed in Chicago, Illinois. The current headquarters are now located in Washington D.C. This association works to preserve the growth of trees not just in America, but also around the world. -
Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks founded
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General Revision Act
This act repealed the Timber Culture and Preemption acts. This act authorizes the President to create forest preserves. -
Sierra Club founded
John Muir was the founder and first President of this association. Founded in San Francisco, California, this club works to establish and protect federal national parks. The national park that they are modt famous for trying to preserve is Yosemite. -
Lacey Act
This act made it illegal to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase wildlife, fish, and plants. It is meant to fight "trafficking". -
Agricutural Revolution
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Golden Age of Conservation
(Theodore Roosevelt) -
First national wildlife refuge established
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Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopald was born on January 11, 1887. During 1905 he attended Sheffield Scientific School at Yale. -
Audubon Society founded
This society was named for John James Audubo. Their job is to protect waterbirs. 1905 is when this society was officially founded. -
U.S. Forest Service founded
This service manges the public laands in national forests and grasslands. This is the largest forestry research organization in the world. -
Gifford Pinchot
He was the cheif of the U.S. forest service. He greatly increased the area and number of national forests. In 1905 there were 60 national parks covering a total of about 56 million acres. However, in 1910 there were 150 national forests that covered a total of about 172 million acres. (he more than double the amount during his term as cheif) -
Antiquities Act
This act establishes that archeological sites on public lands are important public resources. It also authorizes the President to protect landmarks, structures, and objects of historic/scientific interest by making them National Monuments -
Roosevelt waving Forest land
Congress became upset because Roosevelt was waving so much forest land so they banned further withdrawals. -
U.S. National Park Service founded
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Dust Bowl
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Civilian Conservation Corps founded
The CCC is a nonprofit organization intended to promote environmental conservation and to buil good citizens through vigorous, disciplined outdoor labor. Sometimes referred to as the "tree army". -
Soil Conservation Service founded
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Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act
Also called the "Duck Stamp Act", this act states that any person over the age of 16 who hunts ducks, geese, swans, or brant must carry a current Duck Stamp on which he has signed his signiature in ink. -
Taylor Grazing Act
President Franklin D Roosevelt passed this act which was intended to stop injury to public grazing lands. This was to be done by preventing overgrazing and soil deterioration. -
Fish plus Wildlife Service founded
This service, which is housed in the U.S. Department of Interior, is dedicated to management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats -
FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Control Act)
This act was amended several times. It authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reveiw and register argochemicals only for uses that are very specified. -
Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall was born on April 3, 1934. In 1960 Goodall was responsible for the first recorded instance of toolmaking by nonhumans. She witnessed 2 chimps stripping leaves off of twigs to make tools for getting termites out of a termite mound. -
Silent Spring published by Rachel Carson
This novel took Carson 4 years to complete. It explains how DDT affected all the animals in a food chain in Cape Cod. -
Wilderness Act
This act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It designated all existing Wild Areas, Canoe Areas, and Wilderness Ares as Wilderness -
Garret Hardin introduced the Tragedy of the Commons
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Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, this act was created to presere certain rivers in a free-flowing condition -
Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire
An oil slick on the river, which was polluted from decades of industrial waste, caught fire. It caused about $100,000 worth of damage to 2 railroad bridges. -
NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act)
This act establishes national environmental policy and goals for the maintenance, protection, and enhancement of the environment. This act also establishes Council on Environmental Quality. -
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Richard Nixon
Pro-environmentalism -
First Earth Day
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Environmental Protection Agency established Clear Air Act
This agency was designed to control air pollution on a national level. -
Endangered Species Act
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OPEC oil embargo
An embargo was declared by Arab oil producers. This embargo put drastic limits on shipment of oil to the U.S. -
Sherwood Roland and Molina Announce that CFCs are depleting the ozone layer
This was the very first warning provided about CFCs. Since then many scientists have agreed with Roland and Molina that CFCs are depleting the ozone layer. (CFC=Chlorofluorocarbons) -
RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act)
This act protects the health of both the environment and its people. It protects them from potential hazards of waste disposall. It also helps to conserve energy and natural resources, ensure wastes are managed in environmentally friendly ways, and reduce the total amount of waste generated. -
Clean Water Act
Many major amendments changed and improved this act in 1977. -
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
This act establishes a nationwide program to protect the environment and its people from coal mining operations -
Love Canal, NY & Lois Gibbs (toxic waste leaks into residential houses)
Toxic waste was buried in Love Canaland covered with dirt and clay, making it seem safe. When builders were expanding the city they accidentally removed the clay and dirt allowing the toxic waste to seek out of the canisters and rise to the surface. Heavy rains increased this process and caused the toxic waste to runoff into the nearby homes. This caused death and major sickness. Lois Gibbs brought national attention to this disaster after figuring out that her son's school was affected. -
3 Mile Island Nuclear accident
A cooling malfunction occurred and cause part of the core to melt in the 2nd reactor. (this reactor was destroyed) A few days later radioactive gas was released. Luckily there were no injuries or adverse health effects due to this accident. -
Alaskan Lands Act
President Jimmy Carter signed this act intolaw. It is also reffered to as ANILCA, or Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. This is one of the most important acts in our nation's history because it protected nearly 100 million acres of Alaskan Federal Lands. It created a total of 10 new national parks. -
CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, & Liability Act)= Super-Fund
CERCLAs goal is to clean up uncontrolled releases of specified hazordous wastes. (Commonly known as Superfund) -
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Ronald Reagan
He was against environmentalism. -
Bhopal, India (chemical toxic cloud kills 2,00 people)
A pesticide plant leaked many chemicals, including methyl isocynate, which formed a toxic cloud that killed more than 8,000 people within the first few days. -
Chernobyl
Inadequately trained workers and a faulty reactor design contributed to this horrible accident. There were steam explosions and fires which released about 5% of the radioactive reactor core. Around 30 people died within a few weeks. There was also an increase in the number of thyroid cancer patients. -
Montreal Protocol
The protocol was originally signed by 25 nations, but now there is a total of 168 nations that have agreed to it. The protocol limits the production of CFCs, halon, and other similar substances which release chlorine and bromine into the atmosphere. (eventually they reach the ozone layer) -
World population reaches 5 billion
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Exxon Valdez
The oil tanker spilled more than 11 million gallons of crude oil after striking a Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. It was the largest spill in U.S. history. Many species were threatened and harmed by this oil spill. -
Energy Policy Act of 1992
This act required certain federal, state, and alternative fuel provider fleets to make an inventory of alternative fuel vehicles. -
Desert Protection Act
This act protects Death Valley, Joshua Tree National Parks, and the Mojave National Preserve in California. -
Julia Butterfly Hill sat in tree "Luna" for 700+ days to protest deforestation
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Kyoto Protocol
This protocol was an international agreement to address global warming and delay the change of climate. It aims to reduce developed countries' emissions of greenhouse gases to 5% below what they were in 1990. -
World population reaches 6 billion
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World population reaches 7 billion