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Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution was when people went from hunting and gathering to farmers. -
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transfer from making things by hand to using machines to mass produce items. This time brought about poor working conditions and large numbers of factories. -
John Muir
John Muir was born on April 24, 1838. Muir was a famous naturalist and conservationist who dedicated his life to exploring and seeing the world after an accident left him temporarily blind. -
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
The book Walden focuses on the act of simple living in natural surroundings. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act was implemented to motivate and encourage western migration. Settlers were offered 160 public acres in exchange for a small fee and 5 guaranteed years of residency -
Yellowstone National Park founded
The Yellowstone National Park was signed into law by the president at the time, Ulysses S. Grant. The park is primarily located in the state of Wyoming and extends into Montana and Idaho. -
American Forestry Association founded
The American Forestry Association was founded in order to help protect and restore forest ecosystems. -
Yosemite plus Sequoia National Park founded
The Yosemite and Sequoia National Park, founded by John Muir and Robert Johnson, is home to many natural wonders and giant sequoia trees -
General Revision Act
The General Revision Act acted as a catalyst for many other land reform initiatives. The act was the first step to increasing the amount of publically owned land. It also helped to decreased extraction rights of privately held land owners in the west. -
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club was founded by John Muir in San Francisco. They promote using natural resources in a more conservative, sustainable way rather than taking advantage of them and using them all up at our own convenience. -
Lacey Act
The Lacey Act is a law that put a ban on the trade of illegally obtained fish, wildlife, and plants. -
Golden Age of Conservation
A time period expanding from 1901 to 1909. Under the lead of Theodore Roosevelt, conservation began a popular idea. Many people were committed to the cause of conservation. Roosevelt made conservation a big part of his administration in order to make a difference and motivate people to get on board with it. -
First national wildlife refuge established
Pelican Island was made the first national wildlife refuge due to and executive order from President Roosevelt. The island stood to protect egrets and other birds that were on the verge of extinction due to hunting. -
U.S. Forest Service founded
The Forest Service was established with the idea that it would help sustain healthy, diverse, and productive forests for the generations in the future. -
Gifford Pinchot
Pinchot was a forester who served as the first chief of the U.S. Forest service. He is also known for his work in reforming the development of forests. -
Aldo Leopold
An American writer and conservationist who believed strongly in the act of conservation and land ethics. He is the author of the book a Sand County Almanac in which he tells stories of his past and his beliefs in land ethics. -
Audubon Society founded
The Audubon Society is a non profit organization dedicated to the cause of conservation. The founders, John Muir, T. Gilbert Pearson, and George Bird Grinnell, created the organization with the same ideas that were possessed by the famous conservationist, John Audubon. -
Antiquities Act
This law established that any archeological sites that are located on public land are important resources to the public. -
Congress became upset because Roosevelt was waving so much forest land so they banned further with drawals.
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U.S. National Park service founded
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Dust Bowl
A time period during the 1930's that brought about severe dust storms in the U.S. These dust storms are responsible for the damage done to the economic and agricultural world during this time. This time period was also known as the dirty thirties. -
Civilian Conservation Corps founded
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a part of the new deal that operated as a work relief program for unemployed and unmarried men. -
Soil Conservation Service founded
The Soil Conservation Service is an agency working under the authority of the United States Department of Agriculture. Their job is to provide technical assistance to farmers and landowners. -
Taylor Grazing Act
The Taylor Grazing Act implemented a law that regulates the amount of grazing on public land. This was to improve the conditions of the rangeland and regulate their use. -
Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp act
This act made it so that any hunter over the age of 16 that hunted waterfowls to have a federal hunting stamp. -
Fish plus Wildlife Service founded
This service was founded and given the task of managing fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. -
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Control Act
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Silent Spring
Silent Spring was written by the American marine biologist/conservationist Rachel Carson. The book is about the effects harmful and irresponsible use of pesticides have on the environment. -
Wilderness Act
The Wilderness is responsible for creating National Wilderness Preservation System. -
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was made so congress could choose to preserve any river that they felt had good value so that they could benefit future generations -
National Environmental Policy Act
The purpose of the NEPA was to encourage and motivate people to help contribute to the cleaning of the environment. -
Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire
All of the pollutants in the Cuyahoga river caused a river to break out. There had been several fires on the river, but this fire was the worst. That fire caused over 1 million dollars in damage to the boats, bridges, and buildings surrounding the river. -
First Earth Day
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Environmental Protection Agency established
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Clear Air Act
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Endangered Species Act
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OPEC oil embargo
The Arab members of the OPEC decided to impose an embargo against the United States because the U.S. decided to re-supply the Israeli military during the Arab-Israeli War. -
Roland and Molina announce that CFC's are depleting the ozone layer
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Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
This implemented the law that controls the disposal of waste, both solid and hazardous. -
Clean Water Act
The clean water act of 1977 is known for establishing a structure that regulates the amount of pollutants put into water systems -
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
This act is responsible for monitoring and regulating the effect of coal mining on the environment. Their are two programs that were made by this act: one that deals with active mines, and one that works towards the reclaiming of abandoned mines. -
Love Canal, New York
Love Canal became the dumping place for over 22,000 barrels of toxic waste. The chemicals from the waste found its way into the residential houses around the Canal. The families that lived in the houses that were contaminated with chemicals and toxic waste had to be relocated to safer housing -
3 Mile Island Nuclear accident
In 1979, there was a partial nuclear meltdown in the Three Island Nuclear Generating Station, which is located in Pennsylvania. Though the meltdown had no damaging impact on the workers and people around the plant, it motivated the government to establish new regulations and guidelines for nuclear plants. -
Alaskan Lands Act
This act granted the protection of over over 157,000,000 acres of land in Alaska. This act protects national parks, national forests, wild and scenic rivers, conservation areas, wildlife refuges, national monuments, and recreational areas. -
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act a.k.a Superfund
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Bhopal, India
A gas leak occurred at a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. The leak resulted in over 500,000 people being exposed methyl isocyanate. Nearly 2,500 people died due to the chemical exposure. The gas leak is the world's worst industrial disaster to date. -
Chernobyl
The location of a catastrophic nuclear accident. During a stress test, the safety systems of the plant were not turned on, leading to a destructive steam explosion. The gas leak was the most expensive nuclear power plant accident, as well as the one with the most casualties, -
Montreal Protocol
The Montreal Protocol deals with substances that deplete the ozone layer. It is an international protocol with the main goal being to stop the production of substances that contribute to the depletion -
Exxon Valdez
Exxon Valdez was an oil tanker that spilled 38 million gallons of crude oil into the Prince William Sound. It is one of the worst human-caused environmental disasters. -
Energy Policy Act of 1992
This act set goals and changed utility laws in order to increase the use of clean energy, as well as to improve energy efficiency of the United States. -
Desert Protection Act
This added 69 wilderness areas to the National Wilderness Preservation System, established Death Valley National Park, and Joshua Tree National Park. -
World Population hits 6 billion
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Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol makes state parties commit to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they produce. -
BP Oil Spill
Also known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank, killing 11 people. By the time all of the leaks were capped, nearly 3.19 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. -
COP21
The 21st annual Conference of the Parties. The purpose of the conference is to discuss climate change and ideas on how to prevent it.
