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Period: Jan 1, 1500 to
History of Environmental Science
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Jan 1, 1539
Esteban Dorantes discovers Pueblos of the Zuni Indians initiating exporatioin of the American Southwest
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Boston Commons is established. This is the nation's oldest city park.
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Great Ponds Act
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Michael Wigglesworth published God's Controversy with New England calling land outside of settlements "a waste and howling wilderness".
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William Penn requires "in clearing ground, care to be taken to leave an acre of trees for every five acres cleared" in the new colony of Pennsylvania.
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Benjamin Franklin publishes the first promotion of an economical use of wood to conserve natural resources
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Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau found St. Louis, fur trading capital of the West
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Daniel Boone establishes the Wilderness Trail and Boonesborough.
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Thomas Jefferson engineers The Louisiana Purchase
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Lewis and Clark Expidition begins.
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Sacajawea joins Lewis and Clark. Her interpretation and identification skills help the expidition tremendously.
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William Cullen Bryant - Initiates the park movement.
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Pawnee Chief Petalesharo notes that buffalo and other game are decreasing due to encroaching settlement and exploration.
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James Fenimore Cooper presents first concepts of conservation of natural resources.
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George Catlin publishes idea of National Park
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Hot Springs Reservation, the nation's oldest national park, designated in Arkansas.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson publishes "Nature"
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Trapper Jim Bridger establishes Oregon Trail
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Thomas A Ayers' lithographs introduce Yosemite to the East. Called the most striking natural wonder on the Pacific.
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Abe Lincoln signs Yosemite Bill "to protect an area and conserve it for recreational enjoyment"
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Frederick Law Olmstead pushes for protection of Yosemite Valley
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A major truning point in the conservation movement occurs when George P Marsh publishes Man and Nature, warning citizens to stop the devastation of natural resources.
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The Alaskan Purchase
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Yellowstone is documented
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Yellowstone is designated a Public Park
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Yosemite Reserves Act passed by congress.
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Gifford Pinchot takes office as Chief of the Division of Forestry
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Theodore Roosevelt sets aside vast acres of federal forest land and creates the first national wildlife refuge at Florida's Pelican Island.
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Grand Canyon National Monument is established by President Theordore Roosevelt.
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Woodrow Wilson passes National Parks Bill
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Ecologist Aldo Leopold achieves designation of the first official wilderness area-the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico
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Robert Marshall founds the Wilderness Society
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Aldo Leopold publishes A Sand County Almanac
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Rachel Carson Publishes Silent Spring
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Congress passes first CLean Air Act
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Land and Water Conservation Fund Act
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Wilderness Act creates the National Wilderness Preservation System
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Congress passes Rare and Endangered Species Act
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Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness becomes the first FWS wilderness to be added to the NWPS.
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National Environmental Policy Act is passed
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Gaylord Nelson founds Earth Day
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Eastern Wilderness Act is passed
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Federal Lan Policy and Management Act
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Jimmy Carter signs Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
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Ocean Dumping Ban Act
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Helsinki Declaration signed
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UNCED in Rio de Janeiro
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Mojave National Park established.
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The US National OCeanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that a global campaign to lower production of chemicals that damage the ozone layer has succeeded.
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US Congress passes National Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act
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Reps form more that 150 countries meet in Kyoto, Japan and agree to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses 5.2 percent by 2010.
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Environmental activist David Chain is killed by a tree felled by Pacific Lumber/Maxxam Corp during a protest of destruction of old-growth redwood trees
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US Environmental Protection Agency proposes compreshensive plan to clean up Hudson River PCBs.
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Global Climate Change report released.
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Clinton Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects 58.5 million acres in 39 states
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US joins 90 other nations in signing the international Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
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Christine Whitman appointed Administrator of US EPA
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George Bush establishes 140,000 square mile Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine N.M., the nation's largest national monument and the world's largest marine sanctuary.