Environment: for Preservation or Exploitation - an Analysis of the Opinions of John Muir, Gifford Pinchot and Aldo Leopold
Our natural environment is an integral part of our world today and is valued for varying
reasons in society. The general public, academics, and environmentalists etc., all share different
opinions on the function or use of our natural environment and provide interesting perspectives
on the role of the environment. It is evident that society today deeply values the environment as
numerous sectors encourage conservation of natural resources and preservation of natural sites;
however, in order to fully understand the formulation of this environment-oriented ideology
today, it is beneficial to examine its origins in American environmental history. John Muir,
Gifford Pinchot, and Aldo Leopold are generally regarded to be the founders of the American
environmental movement that gave way several of the current debates and ideologies
encompassing environmental issues. Instead of simply deploying an extremist stance on
environmental issues and the use of natural resources, it is important to strike a balance between
an exploitationist and preservationist perspective and negotiate the two accordingly. The
following analysis attempts to summarize and interrogate the attitudes of John Muir, Gifford
Pinchot, and Aldo Leopold towards the environment in American history, by taking a closer look
at three articles authored by the aforementioned figures
Much of the environmental debate in John Muir's (1838-1914) article is premised on the
Hetch Hetchy Valley. The article identifies John Muir as a dedicated preservationist who
originated from Scotland and shifted to the United States in 1849. He spent several
years traveling all across America, observing and gathering data that would later contribute to
the publication of various scientific theories and poetic descriptions (Goldfarb 3). The Hetch
Hetchy Valley identified in Muir's article "...is in the Yosemite National Park, about twenty
miles
reasons in society. The general public, academics, and environmentalists etc., all share different
opinions on the function or use of our natural environment and provide interesting perspectives
on the role of the environment. It is evident that society today deeply values the environment as
numerous sectors encourage conservation of natural resources and preservation of natural sites;
however, in order to fully understand the formulation of this environment-oriented ideology
today, it is beneficial to examine its origins in American environmental history. John Muir,
Gifford Pinchot, and Aldo Leopold are generally regarded to be the founders of the American
environmental movement that gave way several of the current debates and ideologies
encompassing environmental issues. Instead of simply deploying an extremist stance on
environmental issues and the use of natural resources, it is important to strike a balance between
an exploitationist and preservationist perspective and negotiate the two accordingly. The
following analysis attempts to summarize and interrogate the attitudes of John Muir, Gifford
Pinchot, and Aldo Leopold towards the environment in American history, by taking a closer look
at three articles authored by the aforementioned figures
Much of the environmental debate in John Muir's (1838-1914) article is premised on the
Hetch Hetchy Valley. The article identifies John Muir as a dedicated preservationist who
originated from Scotland and shifted to the United States in 1849. He spent several
years traveling all across America, observing and gathering data that would later contribute to
the publication of various scientific theories and poetic descriptions (Goldfarb 3). The Hetch
Hetchy Valley identified in Muir's article "...is in the Yosemite National Park, about twenty
miles
Bibliography: Goldfarb, Theodore D. Notable Selections In Environmental Studies, Second Edition. Connecticut: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill, 2000. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916. New York: Doubleday, Page & company, 1910.