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10,000 BCE
Agricultural Revolution
A period of transition from hunting and gathering to stationary farming. https://www.britannica.com/topic/agricultural-revolution -
Industrial Revolution
Agricultural societies became more urban and industrialized. (cotton gin, transcontinental railroad, electricity, etc.)
https://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution -
John Muir
John Muir was born in the year 1838, and he founded the Sierra club and also helped to establish 2 national parks (Sequoia and Yosemite).
https://www.biography.com/people/john-muir-9417625 -
Walden by Thoreau
Henry Thoreau lived on his own in the woods in a secluded cabin, where he learned about the nature around him.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16902.Walden -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act allowed settlement in the Western United States to anyone who could put up a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land.
https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/homestead-act -
Yellowstone Park
American national park located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/yellowstone-park-established -
American Forestry Association
Collects and spreads information about forests to raise recognition to conserve existing forests.
https://www.forestfoundation.org -
General Revision Act
The General Revisions act repealed the "Timber culture and Preemption Acts" and authorized the president of the United States, under the forest reserve act, to create forest preserve.
http://dictionary.sensagent.com/general%20revision%20act/en-en/ -
Sierra Club
Founded by John Muir in 1892, it is the worlds oldest environmental organization.
https://www.sierraclub.org -
Lacey Act
The Lacey act protects both plants and wildlife by creating civil and criminal penalties for a wide variety of violations.
https://www.fws.gov/international/laws-treaties-agreements/us-conservation-laws/lacey-act.html -
Golden Age of Conservation
When Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir worked together to preserve hundreds of acres of land in the United States.
https://www.sutori.com/item/1901-1909-now-called-the-golden-age-of-conservation-theodore-roosevelt-made-i-9986 -
First National Wildlife Refuge
Designation for certain protected areas of the United States fish and wildlife service.
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/pelican_island/about/history.html -
Aldo Leopold
Influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness conservation.
https://www.aldoleopold.org/about/aldo-leopold/ -
United States Forest Service
The Forest Service is an agency that looks over all of the National Parks /Forests.
https://www.fs.fed.us -
Gifford Pichot
An American Forester and Politician, served as the first chief of the US forest service from 1905-1910.
https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/GiffordPinchotStatePark/Pages/default.aspx -
Audubon Society
American Non-profit, environmental organization, dedicated to conservation.
https://action.audubon.org/onlineactions/Caiv_BMt5EWxyZwiqKHwrg2?ms=digital-fund-ppc-bing-x-20180000_bing_paid_donate&utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=evergreen&utm_term=keyword&msclkid=29baa9174a7c1bab8836f2b62351fb65&utm_content=Brand%20-%20Exact -
Antiquities Act
This law gives the president of the United States authority to, by executive order to restrict the used of particular land owned by the Federal government.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/legal/american-antiquities-act-of-1906.htm -
United States National Park Service
The United States federal agency that manages all the national parks, national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/quick-nps-history.htm -
Dust Bowl
A period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to the American and Canadian Prairie lands in the 1930's.
https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/dust-bowl -
Civilian Conservation Corps
A public relief work program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for the unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 17 to 23.
https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/civilian-conservation-corps -
Soil Conservation
An agency of the USDA that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and managers.
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/about/history/?cid=nrcs143_021392 -
Taylor Grazing Act
A United States federal law that provides for the regulation of grazing on the public lands to improve rangeland conditions and regulate their use.
https://definitions.uslegal.com/t/taylor-grazing-act/ -
Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act
Requires each waterfowl hunter to be 16 years of age or older to possess a valid Federal hunting stamp.
https://www.animallaw.info/statute/us-migratory-migratory-bird-hunting-and-conservation-stamp-act -
Silent Spring/Rachel Carson
A book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin.
http://www.rachelcarson.org/SilentSpring.aspx -
Wilderness Act
Written by Howard Zahniser of the Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9 million acres of federal land.
https://wilderness.org/article/wilderness-act -
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
An act that recommends for nation wild rivers and scenic rivers to be protected from development that would substantially change there wild and scenic rivers.
https://rivers.gov -
Cuyahoga River in Cleveland Ohio catching fire
The Cuyahoga River is known as the river which caught fire and this helped to spur the environmental movement in the late 1960's.
https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/63 -
NEPA
United States environmental law that established a United States national policy promoting the enhancement of the environment.
https://www.epa.gov/nepa -
First Earth Day
An annual day on which events are held worldwide to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earths natural environment.
https://www.earthday.org/about/the-history-of-earth-day/ -
Environmental Protection Agency
Created to protect human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by congress.
https://www.epa.gov -
Clean Air Act
United States federal law designed to control air pollution on a national level.
https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview -
CFC's depleting ozone
non-toxic, non-flammable alternative to dangerous substances like ammonia for purposes of refrigeration and spray can propellants.
http://www.theozonehole.com/ozonedestruction.htm -
FIFRA
A United States Federal law that set up the basic U.S. system of pesticide regulation to protect applicators, consumers, and the environment.
https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-federal-insecticide-fungicide-and-rodenticide-act -
Endangered Species Act
Is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970's.
https://www.fws.gov/international/laws-treaties-agreements/us-conservation-laws/endangered-species-act.html -
OPEC
Started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries of the OAPEC. Proclaimed and oil embargo.
https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/ -
RCRA
The principal Federal law in the United States governing the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste.
https://www.epa.gov/rcra -
Clean Water Act
The primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution.
https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act -
Surface mining Control and Reclamation Act
Primary Federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States.
https://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/surfmin.html -
Love Canal, NY
A neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, located in Lasalle section of the city. It officially covers 36 square blocks in the far southeastern corner of the city, along 99th Street and Reed Avenue.
https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/love-canal-tragedy.html -
3 Mile Island Nuclear Accident
Was a partial nuclear meltdown which occurred at the Three Mile Island power plant in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States.
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html -
Alaskan Lands Act
United States federal law passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Jimmy Cater.
https://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/alaskcn.html -
Bhopal chemical toxic cloud
Gas leak incident in India, considered one of the world's worst industrial disasters.
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/12/bhopal-the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-30-years-later/100864/ -
Chernobyl
A catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred in 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities of the Soviet Union.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident.aspx -
CERCLA
The objective of CERCLA is to clean up the uncontrolled releases of the specific hazardous substances.
https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-cercla-overview -
Montreal Protocol
International treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.
https://www.state.gov/e/oes/eqt/chemicalpollution/83007.htm -
Exxon Valdez
An oil tanker that gained notoriety after running aground in Prince William Sound spilling hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil in Alaska.
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/03/the-exxon-valdez-oil-spill-25-years-ago-today/100703/ -
Energy Policy Act
Energy conservation and energy management, natural gas imports and exports alternative fuels and requiring certain fleets to acquire alternative fuel vehicles, which are capable of operating on non petroleum fuels, electric motor vehicles, radioactive waste, coal power and clean coal, renewable energy, and other issues.
https://www.afdc.energy.gov/laws/key_legislation -
Desert Protection Act
Established the Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks and the Mojave National Preserve in the California desert.
https://wilderness.org/article/california-desert-protection-act -
Kyoto Protocol
A protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on the Climate Change, aimed at fighting global warming.
https://unfccc.int/process/the-kyoto-protocol -
World Population hits 6 billion
It means that the population of the world has doubled in less than four decades. Similarly, it means that a tenth of all the people who have ever lived are now alive.
http://earthsky.org/human-world/this-date-in-science-6-billion-humans-and-counting
