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Agricultural Revolution (10,000 BC)
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Industrial Revolution begins (275 years ago)
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Thomas Mathus predicted that exponential population growth would outpace linear food production, leading to starvation.
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John Muir born
John Muir founded the Sierra Club. He also helped preserve National Parks such as Yosemite Valley and Sequoia National Park. -
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
This book is about the author's experience about living in a cabin for two years that he built on the edge of the woods. The book emphasizes a simple lifestyle and being self-sufficient. -
Homestead Act
This act allowed settlers to claim large tracts of land in the midwest for little to no money. This resulted in settlers quickly depleting the natural resources and destroying the local environment. -
Yellowstone National Park founded
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American Forestry Association founded
This organization, now American Forests, was formed to protect and improve ecosystems in the forest. -
Sequoia National Park founded
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Yosemite National Park founded
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General Revision Act
This act repealed the Timber Culture and Preemption Acts, and allowed the President to set aside land for National Parks and forest monuments. -
Sierra Club founded
Founded by John Muir, the Sierra Club was founded to preserve and educate people about the wilderness regions in the United States. -
Lacey Act
This act protects wildlife by creating penalties and crimes for a number of abuses. -
Begining of Golden Age of Conservation
Theodore Roosevelt takes office -
First National Wildlife Refuge established
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Audubon Society founded
The Audubon Society was founded in 1905 and is committed to conservation. -
Gifford Pinchot
First Chief of the U.S. Forest Service. He was a big conservationalist, wanting to use the resources that the land provided, making sure that they were replaced and not permenantly destroyed. -
Aldo Leopold
In 1905, Leopold is accepted to Yale University, one of the nation's first forestry schools, which was donated money by Gifford Pinchot. Leopold wrote the book 'A Sand Country Almanac', advocating for a responsible relationship between the land and it's inhabitants. -
Antiquities Act
This law gives the President the power to restrict the public use of Federal land -
Congress became upset because Roosevelt was waving so much forest land, so they banned further withdrawls.
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End of Golden Age of Conservation
Theodore Roosevelt steps down from office -
U.S. National Park Service founded
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Dust Bowl begins
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Dust Bowl
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Soil Conservation Service founded
This agency protects and conserves natural resources on private land through local and state governments. -
Civilian Conservation Corps founded
In an effort to employ workers laid off during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the CCC to provide jobs, which involved conserving and developing natural resources in rural areas. -
Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act
Originally signed by President Hoover in 1929 to preserve the habitat of migratory birds. This stamp was required to hunt these migratory waterfowl. -
Taylor Grazing Act
This act regulates grazing on public land to improve and regulate these lands. -
Fish and Wildlife Service founded
This government agency manages fish, wildlife, and their habitats. -
Jane Goodall
Best known for her extensive study of chimpanzees and other primates, Goodall is a prime advocate for animal welfare and conservation of natural resources. -
Silent Spring published by Rachel Carson
Silent Spring revealed the dangers of pesticides, especially DDT. This was one of the factors that helped start the American environmental movement. -
Wilderness Act
Written by Howard Zahniser, it legally defined wilderness in the United States. -
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
This allows a river or part of a river to be designated as a protected area. -
Garrett Hardin introduced the Tragedy of the Commons
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Cuyahoga River in Clevland, Ohio, caught fire
This river was so badly polluted that it caught fire 13 times, the last being in 1969, which was publicized by Time Magazine. This lead to several pollution control laws. -
National Environmental Polict Act
This act established a United States policy promoting the conservation and preservation of the environment and created the President's Council on Environmental Equality -
First Earth Day
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Environmental Protection Agency/ Clean Air Act
This Agency helps to write and enforce environmental laws passed by Congress. The Clean Air Acts requires the EPA to pass laws to protect from air pollution that is dangerous to humans -
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Control Act
This Act gives the EPA to regulate the use of pesticides to protect the environment. -
Clean Water Act
This Law governs water pollution. It's goals were to elimitate release of toxic substances into the water and to make the water safe for human recreation. -
OPEC oil embargo
Arab nations in the Middle East decided to attack Israel. The United States decided to resupply Isreal, and the nations of OPEC placed an oil embargo on the US, driving up the price of oil and oil-related products. -
Endangered Species Act
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Sherwood Roland and Molina announce that CFCs are depleting the ozone layer
CFCs were banned because they severely deplete the ozone layer. -
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
This law sets rules for disposal of solid and/or hazardous waste. -
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
This law governs coal mining and it's effects on the environment. -
Love Canal, New York, and Lois Gibbs
Love Canal was originally used by Hooker Chemical to bury toxic waste. This land was sold to the Niagara Falls School Board, whom they told of the toxic waste buried there. An elementary school and a neighborhood were built on the site. After Lois Gibbs, whose son attended the elementary school, found out, she began a legal battle against the government. -
3 Mile Island Nuclear accident
One of the nuclear reactors at the site experienced a partial meltdown, releasing small amounts of radioactive material into the environment. -
Alaskan Lands Act
This act created large new parklands in the state of Alaska, increasing preservation efforts in the region. -
Comprehensive Environmental Respnse, Compensation, and Liability Act
This Act, also known as Superfund, is responsible for the clean up of sites contaminated with hazardous waste. -
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Ronald Reagan
Reagan wanted to eliminate environmental regulations on industries and tried to lessen the authority of the EPA. -
Bhopal, India
In Bhopal, Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant leaked a cloud of toxic gas into the surrounding area, killing 2,000 people -
Chernobyl
A fire and subsequent explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear site causes one of the four reactors to melt down, releasing radioactive particles over parts of Europe and Russia. -
World Population reaches 5 billion
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Montreal Protocol
This was an international treaty to lessen, and eventually stop, the use of chemicals which are harmful to the ozone layer. -
Exxon Valdez
An oil tanker, the Exxon Valdez, ran aground on the coast of Alaska, resulting in the second largest oil spill in United States History. -
Energy Policy Act of 1992
This Act addressed several subjects in the realm of energy use, efficency, renewable resources. -
Desert Protection Act
This Act established several National Parks and Preserves in the desert of California, including Death Valley. -
Julia Butterfly Hill
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Julia Butterfly Hill sat in tree 'Luna' for 738 days to protest deforestation
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Kyoto Protocol
Set limits on the production of greenhouse gasses in industrialized countries. This does not include the United States, Canada, or Russia. -
World Population reaches 6 billion
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World population reaches 7 billion
