The development of both conservation and preservation movements came toward the turn of the twentieth century. These two though processes have quite a lot of overlap, but are still regarded as different ideologies in the political and environmental world. Conservationism may be regarded as the first of the two movements to truly gain momentum. Around this time, free land in the continental U.S. was declining, and the realization began to set in that there was not a limitless supply of natural resources. Various movements toward conservation became a political priority, which was held together by President Roosevelt’s premise that conservation is “the use of natural resources for the greatest good of the greatest number for the longest time ” (Merchant, 325). Essentially, the conservationist ideal sprout up through the utilitarian ideology that helping the most people possible based on what is available is the fairest way to distribute natural resources. While noble in some ways, this viewpoint clearly did not speak for the environment as a whole. Much like the religious viewpoints we discussed in our first week, …show more content…
While conservationism grew mainly from politics, the preservation movement was more the result of transcendentalist art and literature (365). This ideology was founded on the idea that wilderness is sacred and needed to be preserved altogether, rather than just managed accordingly. While we now know the immense benefits of preserving natural ecosystems, the movement at the time was more geared toward the romanticized idea of peace and beauty in nature. Inspirational authors at the time such as Mary Austin and John Muir beautiful described the wonders of nature and advocated for its preservation (367-371). This movement grew in popularity and led to several acts of legislation passed by Congress, which aimed to clearly define wilderness preserves and national