KSU Nature and Society

EXAM 1

(The) Puritans

the ‘Godly’

Wilderness

a kind of hell; but also, a place of rededication and refuge

Magic

humans participate in the universe, kinship with living things, landscape

Religion

relationships with god(s)

Science

distances people from the world, stand apart from nature

Transcendence (Magic)

university influences people; but beyond their ability to affect it (astrology)

Transformation (Magic)

ability to affect change (alchemy; selves)

Transactions (Magic)

make bargans and offerings

Natural

what happens always or most of the time

Prenatural

what happens rarely, but by the agency of created beings- angels,demons,faries,goblins

Supernatural

the domain of gods unmediated actions

Demonology

15th century, grounding in biblical scripture, and the relationship of magic, science, and religion

Romanticism

the romantic movement, an appreciation of wilderness

Scientific Revolution

17th century, emergence of modern science, transformed knowledge about ‘nature’

Age of Enlightenment

17th century onward, rationalism, empiricism; liberty, progress, separation of the church and state

Nature and the Romantic Movement

nature was still ‘wild’, but bespoke God’s influence rather than Satans, appreciation of uncivilized nature, wilderness as ‘pure’ nature

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

our meddling intellect, mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things, from The Tables Turned (1798)

Transcendentalism (Movement)

relationship with Romanticism, postulated the existence of a reality higher than physical, parallelism existed between higher realm of spiritual truth (essence) and lower one of material objects

Ralph Waldo Emerson

transcendentalism

Henry Davi Thoreau (1817-1862)

precursor of modern Environmentalism, social reformer, naturalist, philosopher, scientist, and abolitionist

Thomas Cole (1801-1848)

toward the preservation of the Wilderness, an appreciation of Wilderness contributed to a sadness of it’s loss (precursor to ‘ecological gift’), warned against despoliation of the environment by industry & technology

George Perkins Marsh(1801-1882)

Man and Nature: OR Physical Geography as Modified by Human Actions (1864), politician, philologist, conservationist, cautioned that humans could (and were) degrading the enviornment

John Muir (1838-1914)

Environmental advocate, naturalist, botanist, zoologists, environmental philosopher, believed that the Bible and Nature were two ‘books’ that could harmonize, unqualified enthusiasm for nature

Conservation

early resource use in the US, expansion and exploitation, mining, deforestation, agriculture, industrialization, urbanization

Preservation

an appreciation of wilderness contributed to a sadness of its loss (precursor to ‘ecological grief’

Conservation Ethic

Primary tenet: land resources should be managed for long-term rather than short-term, benefits to the general population, undercurrent of utilitarianism, public lands, concepts of sustaned yield management

Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946)

Chief Forester is USFS, appropriated term ‘conservation’ to support development of forest reserves as sustainable natural resources, production forest management

Hetch-Hetchy Damn Controversy

Hetch-Hetchy Vally adjacent to Yosemite Valley, City of San Francisco long desired water; especially post- 1906 earthquake, Muir and other fought to ‘preserve’ the wilderness

National Forests (Land of Many Uses)

currently 154 National Forests, manages by the US Forest Service, Progressive Era conservation roots

National Parks

system includes 63 congressionally designated protection areas, designated for natural beauty, unique geological features, diverse ecosystems, and recreational opportunities

Boone and Crockett Club

founded in 1887, Wildlife and Habitat Conservation Organization, big game hunting, contributed to the development of National Forest

1897 Forest Organic Act

continued opposition to forest reserves, FOA: reserves intended to secure favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber, reserves remain open to future mineral

Sierra Club

founded in 1892, hiking and advocacy organization, lobbied for additional national parks, including the creation of Yosemite National Park

Antiquities Act (1906)

signed by Theodore Roosevelt, Protect antiquities and objects/ places of scientific interest, however, opened door to protect lands based on physical features

Stephen Mather

member of the Sierra Club, visited Yosemite National Park, apalled by conditions, lax over site of National Parks,

National Park Service Organic Act (1916)

once established, goal was to upgrade and increase number of parks and to expand eastward, encourage automobile traffic, Convert National Monuments to National Parks

Smokey Bear (origin)

Invented by the Ad Council, the Association
of State Foresters, and the USDA Forest
Service, created in 1944 as part of war effort, fears of Japanese incendiary attacks
on the US

Forest Fire Management

Forest Fires were Perennial Concern , lack of fire prevention knowledge (cluelessness), ad campaign in 1944, fire prevention and not simply suppression

The ‘10am’ Policy

every fire should be suppressed by 10am the morning after initial report

Civilian Conservation Corps

one component: building fire breaks and fighting fires

The ‘Let Burn’ Policy

radical change in fire management—let fires burn when and where appropriate

The 1988 Yellowstone Wildfires

several small fires began in June, conditions were far from normal, (wet April & May, Mountain Pine Needles, and June onward — significant drought and humidity.

Element of wildfires

temperature, moisture, wind, and topography

Nature (external)

signifies the non-human word, the ‘natural’ environmental, as opposed to ‘society’

Nature (universal)

signifies the entire physical world, Earth and all its inhabitants, including humans

Nature (intrinsic)

signifies the essential quality or defining property of something (ex: it is ‘natural’ that most birds fly')

Nature (super-ordinate)

refers to the power or force governing some or all living things