During the Progressive Era Essay Example

for people to inhabit, Muir saw the peace and tranquility that nature could give and wanted to preserve it for future generations. However on the contrary side, American forester Gifford Pinchot witnessed and wrote about the rapid deforestation and feared that overconsumption of resources could ruin future generations and leave them with no resources such as timber. Pinchot expressed his fear when saying, “Unless we practice conservation, those who come after us will have to pay the price of misery, degradation, and failure for the progress and prosperity of our day.” Unlike Muir, in order to conserve our resources and protect future generations, Pinchot demanded the instalment of many national parks and reserves to prevent a tragedy of the commons, which happens when supply is much less than the demand causing land exhaustion, chaos, and even death. It is evident that Pinchot desired a sustainable way for resource consumption in forests, but did not want to cease consumption. With this desire, Pinchot aimed for resources to last longer and able future generations an abundance of supplies. Thus the preservationist movement and the conservationist movement differ in the sense that preservationists seek to save the environment for its beauty and conservationists seek to sustain the environment for the sake of future generations.

Both the conservation and preservation movements aimed to save the environment yet differed in their way of doing so. For example, President Theodore Roosevelt had a conservationist viewpoint as he aided the logging industry by starting the US Forest Service in 1905 The service sought to help wildlife however teamed up with the logging industry in order to get the most out of the business

which ultimately did the opposite of what they wanted as the logging industry hurt the environment. It is evident that Roosevelt started this service to help the logging industry and its right to take resources for federal and modernizing advancements. Roosevelt also supported the Newlands Reclamation Act proving a furtherment of his loyalty to the logging business. Since he supported this act that aimed to expand agricultural development westward, it proves his practical bias toward westward expansion. When understanding these two examples one can spot the distinct differences between the conservation and preservation movements. With a fast growing economic system, the Progressive Era was thought to save the environment; however, it was really just assisting this fast growing system. While many of these conservationist leaders like Roosevelt wanted to preserve the environment, their reserves were ultimately intended to support the future generations.

In contrary to the conservationist movement, the preservation movement valued the ecosystem and the organisms within the ecosystems in order to protect the environment. The value of living organisms is shown through a quote from John Muir:

“The world, we are told, was made for man. A presumption that is totally unsupported by the facts...Nature’s object in making animals and plants might possibly be first of all the happiness of each one of the them, Why ought man to value himself as more than an infinitely small Unit of the one great unit of creation?”

Although Muir worked with many conservationists, his main beliefs went in opposition to the acts of many like Roosevelt and Pinchot. One can understand his disapproval at the people who honor themselves to be greater than animals and the environment and

believe that the environment was made only to support the human race. Moreover, an American conservationist Aldo Leopold had many of the same arguments and beliefs as Muir. Leopold portrays the idea of strengthening relationship between land and people when he says, “When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” Leopold admires the status of animals and the wildlife around us and does not want people to diminish the God given land. The distinct differences between conservatism and preservationism can be shown through the environmental status given by humans. Although Roosevelt and many conservationists teamed up with preservationists like Muir, the goal of the preservationist differed in the sense that they wanted to save the animals, wildlife, and beauty of the environment from the destruction of people. Thus, the main difference between these two movements becomes evident when talking about their ultimate end goals: to either benefit humans and destroy the environment or to value the worth of the environment.

During the Progressive Era, preservation movements had distinct differences that revolved around the status that each group gave the environment in relation to humans. Preservationists like John Muir and Aldo Leopold believed that the rights of humans to nature was equal and that humans must protect the beauties such as the plants and animals from the conservationists that aimed to consume it. Teddy Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot, well known conservationists, were also determined to protect the environment; however, it was with motives that would consume the environment at a rate that would still benefit the future of humans. Similar to this fear of

overconsumption of land and timber in the 21st century, fear of running out of fossil fuels has sparked groups to champion for the conservation of fossil fuels by reducing fuel usage and the overconsumption of them. Thus one can see how overconsumption of a non-infinite recourse can be a major threat to the future of Americans and even current Americans.