Conservationists throughout history have made many efforts to protect America’s natural and historical resources as demonstrated by the creation of the Antiquities act, the Clean Air Act, and many National Parks.
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt created the Antiquities Act.
- First law created to preserve history and archeological sites
- This law “[declared] by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments”(United States, Congress, Senate)
- With this law in place, if an individual destroyed a prehistoric/historic monument, the court would decide whether they would either face a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or face jail time for not more than ninety days, or face both fine and imprisonment (United States, Congress, Senate).
The Clean Air Act of 1970
In 1970 the Clean Air Act was created
- “goals of the Act was to set and achieve..National Ambient Air Quality Standards... NAAQS in every state by 1975 in order to address the public health and welfare risks posed by certain widespread air pollutants” (Summary of the Clean)
- Resulted in a decrease of pollutants
- Increased quality of air
- “Clean Air Act programs have lowered levels of six common pollutants -- particles, ozone, lead, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide -- as well as numerous toxic pollutants” (Progress Cleaning)
- Resulted in major shift in governments role in air pollution control
Theodore Roosevelt Created National Parks
- During his presidency he created 5 national parks
- Crater Lake National Park 1902, Wind Cave National Park 1903, Platt National Park 1906, Mesa Verde National Park 1906, and he added land to the Yosemite National Park
- National parks are very beneficial to the environmet
- Made to protect biodiversity
- benefit people because they “have a profound effect on our physical and emotional health”, are filled with history and culture, and they provide a major boost to the economy do to nature-based tourism (Why Are National)
Many different people throughout history have attempted to conserve both the United States’ historical and natural resources. The Antiquities Act created by Theodore Roosevelt, The Clean Air Act, and the creation of many national parks by Teddy Roosevelt are all examples of ways that conservationists have attempted to conserve natural and historical resources. Although there is still much to be done to conserve the environment, conservationists efforts have had a great impact on conserving the environment.
Credits:
Created with images by Ylvers - "styggkärret reserve burning" • mandalariangirl - "Theodore Roosevelt 1901-1909" • CthulhuWho1 (Will Hart) - "076 X_01 Page 04 from H. P. Lovecraft 03-Oct-1932 Letter to E. Hoffmann Price 5.5 X 7.1 From the 10-May-1981 Envelope to William Hart" • cwizner - "pollution smokestack industrial" • tpsdave - "rio grande river texas big bend national" • NASA Goddard Photo and Video - "Crater Lake National Park" • skeeze - "world earth planet"