Questions for Class Discussion

1. What really caused the sudden upsurge in concern for preserving Americas environment at the beginning of the twentieth century? To what extent was this concern motivated by nostalgia for an older America, and to what extent by a desire to preserve nature and natural resources for future generations?
   
   
2. What were the underlying issues in the debate between rational use environmentalists and the more thoroughgoing preservationists? How did the rise of modern ecological science tilt that debate?
   
   

Suggested Student Exercises

1. Examine a comprehensive map of all of Americans national parks, wildlife preserves, and national forests, along with the dates they were established. See what patterns can be discovered regarding the relationship between areas set aside for preservation and recreation and changing American society (e.g., where and when were preserved areas established near to major urban populations, and where and when were very remote lands set aside)?
   
   
2. Examine the ideas and actions of some of the major national figures who shaped American environmental awareness, e.g., Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, Ansel Adams, Rachel Carson, or others. Compare and contrast their different approaches to nature and preservation, and consider what tensions as well as shared outlooks have shaped the environmental movement.