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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
John Muir was an early supporter of creting national parks, and was an environmenalist. He founded many organizations to help protect and conserve the environment. -
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Throeau spent two years living secluded at a pond, and he wrote this book about how he lived. This book introduced many ideas of the environment to the public when it was released. -
Homestead Act
This government act allowed many people to claim land that had been surveyed by the United States government. This accelerated the movement of people into western lands. -
Yellowstone National Park Founded
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American Forestry Association
This organization was founded to protect the forests in the United States from becoming depleted. It is the first nonprofit organization to protect the forests in the United States. -
Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks founded
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General Revision Act
This act allowed the President of the United States to set aside land for national park use. Eventually about 16 million acres of land was set aside for National Parks. -
Sierra Club Founded
The Sierra Club was a foundation set up by John Muir. This foundation protects the mountains, and the rest of the environment. -
Lacey Act
Illegal hunting and poaching was a problem during this time period, so the United States Government passed the Lacey Act. This act creates civil and criminal punishments for harming the environment and animals. -
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Golden Age of Conservation
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First National wildlife refugee established
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US Forest Service Founded
Founded by Gifford Pinchott, this organization manages public forests. It is to allow people to get the most over the longest period of time. -
Gifford Pinchott
Gifford PInchot was the first cheif of the US forest service, and was the Governer of Pennsylvania. He halped manage forest in the United States, and advocated the nations reserve of forests. -
Aldo Leopold
Leopold was an environmentalist that worked on supporting the forests of the United States. He was influential in modern environnmental ethics. -
Audubon Society founded
This organization was founded to protect birds from environmental damage. It also protects the rest of the environment and wildlife. -
Antiquities Act
This act, signed in by Theodore Roosevelt, allows the President of the United States to restrict land use. This act has been used many times in the past. -
Congress became upset because Roosevelt was waving so much forest land so they banned further withdrawals.
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US National Park service founded
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Period: to
Dust Bowl
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Civilian Conservation Corps
This organization, part of the New Deal, allowed unemployed men to get jobs working on Natural Resource development. This was one of the most popular New Deal organizations. -
Soil Conservation Service founded
This organization, now called the National Resources Conservation Service, was founded to give farmer technical assistance. It also supports the conservation of natural resources. -
Taylor Grazing Act
This government act regulates the grazing on public lands in the United States. Permits are given for grazing priveliges in particular areas. -
Migratory BIrd Hunting Stamp Act
This act required a stamp from the government to hunt for migratory birds. This helped regulate the hunting of these birds. -
Fish plus Wildlife Service founded
This organization was founded for the regulation of fish and thier environments. It also supports the enforcement of wildlife and environmental laws. -
Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall is an environmentalist that supports animal wellfare. She did a study on chimpanzees and how they lived their lives. -
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
This book states that pesticide use is harming humans, animals, and the environment. This also helped spark the United States environmental movement. -
Wilderness Act
This government act created the formal definition of wilderness. It says that wilderness is an area that has not been changed or harmed by the humans. -
Clean Air Act of 1963
This act created a research program in the US Public Health. Authorized the creation of stationary sources of pollution. -
Clean Air Act of 1965
This act expands upon the previous Clean Air Act, and allows the government to do more to protect the air. -
Garret Hardin introduced the Tradgedy of the Commons
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Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
This act was passed in the government to proect the extremely scenic rivers from humans and environmental change. Currently there are 154 rivers protected by this act. -
Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire.
The Cuyahoga River fire in 1969 started many environmantal movements. These acts and movements include the Clean Water Act, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and the start of the EPA. -
National Encironmental Policy Act
This act was to set up procedural requirements for United States Government surveys of the environment. This act came into effect because of many other ecological events happening in this time period. -
Period: to
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon was a conservationist, and set up the EPA and Earth Day. -
First Earth Day
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Environmental Protection Agency Established
This agency was established by the United States Federal Government to protect human safety, and environmental safety. -
Clean Air Act of 1970
This act authorized development of regulations for stationary and mobile sources of air emissions. -
FIFRA of 1972
The ammendments to the FIFRA expanded the EPA's authority to use pesticides. Also allowed EPA to control pesticides and sale of pesticides. -
Endangered Species Act
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OPEC Oil Embargo
In 1973, OPEC increased prices of oil dramatically to protest the United States and Western Europe's support of Israel. The embargo eventually ended, but gas prices rose after it ended. -
Sherwood Roland and Molina Announce that CFCs are depleting the ozone layer
CFC is an organic compound containing carbon that is responsible for deterioration of the ozone layer. -
FIFRA of 1975
In 1975, the EPA began to review registration of pesticides. Some pesticides were unsafe for use in the environment. -
RCRA
This is the main act in the US that regards the disposal of solid and hazardous wastes. The EPA has many regulations on the disposal of these wastes. -
Clean Air Act of 1977
These ammendments to the Clean Air Act of 1970 mainly concerned prevention of deterioration of air quality. Also contained requirements for non-attainment areas for the NAAQS. -
Clean Water Act
This is the primary law concerning water pollution and contamination in the United States.The goal of this was to remove toxic wastes from the water. -
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
This law regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States. It sets standards for coal mines to follow. -
Love Canal, NY, and Lois Gibbs
A few pumps near Love Canal had toxic waste in them, and it leaked into houses. These chemicals caused birth defects and othe anomalies, so there was a movement to try and fight these health concerns. -
3 Mile Island Nuclear Accident
One of the two nuclear reactors on 3 Mile Island in Pensylvania had a nuclear meltdown and released nuclear reactor coolant. Lots of radioactive waste was dumped into the nearby river. -
Alaskan Lands Act
This act set aside land in Alaska for national parks, and made some rivers scenic and wild rivers. It also allowed studies of many places in Alaksa. -
CERCLA of 1980
This government act was to clean up areas that had been contaminated with hazardous substances. These substances harmed the environment and made human life dangerous. -
Period: to
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan thought that spending money on the EPA was unnecesary government spending, so he dismissed the idea and questioned the ideas of acid rain. -
Bhopal, India
Due to a gas leak in a pesticide plant, many people are killed due to poisoning. This is often referred to as the worst industrial disaster ever. -
Chernobyl
The nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, Ukraine exploded and released tons of nuclear waste. This is referred to as the worst nuclear disaster. -
CERCLA of 1986
This act increased the budget of the CERCLA superfund and allowed the government to increase studies. -
Montreal Protocol
This is an international treaty designed to protect Earth's ozone layer. If the countries follow the treaty, the ozone layer is expected to recover by the year 2050. -
World Population reaches 5 billion.
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FIFRA 1988
The FIFRA was ammended to create a schedule to complete the registration of pesticides. -
Exxon Valdez
When an oil tanker for Exxon ran aground in California, 55 million gallons of oil spilled out into the Prince William Sound. Many environmental groups were involved in this matter. -
Clean Air Act of 1990
These ammendments to the Clean Air Act increased authority of the federal government in matters of air pollution. Programs were created for control of acid. -
Energy Policy Act of 1992
This act adressed energy efficiency, management and conservation. This act increased the need for alternative forms of energy. -
Desert Protection Act
A law passed to protect the California deserts, and Death Valley area from environmental changes. -
Julia Butterfly Hill sat in tree "Luna" for 700+ days to protest deforestation
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Period: to
Kyoto Protocol
This treaty is to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere. Most United Nations members agreed to this treaty. -
World Population reaches 6 billion
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World Population reaches 7 billion
