Introduction
In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison directed his
Secretary of War to assign U.S. Calvary troops to the
recently created Yosemite National Park. “The Cav-
alry’s mission was to take charge and protect this new
area, to preserve the magnificent timber and vegeta-
tion, to protect the fish and game, the vast mineral de-
posits the natural wonders of the region and to main-
tain this magnificent area in its natural condition. It
was the U.S. Cavalry’s job to protect this natural heri-
tage from all who sought to wantonly exploit it” (Co-
rey nod). This was not an easy assignment, as the lo-
cal public did not fully support the park and resented
the Calvary’s infringement on their grazing, hunting,
trapping, and logging habits (Meyerson 2001). The
Calvary managed the park until 1916 when the Na-
tional Park Service was established. In his book, de-
tailing this compelling period in U.S. history, Harvey
Meyerson (2001) notes that the military rescued our
national parks and quotes John Muir: “Blessings on
Uncle Sam’s soldiers! They have done their job well,
and every pine tree is waving its arms for joy.”
To many the notion of the military being the
guardians of environment is oxymoronic and, indeed
much of the military’s history is marked with tales of
environmental devastation in the name of national or
global security. Yet there are also significant histori-
cal and current examples of the U.S. military protect-
ing the physical environment as part of its mission. A
century after the Calvary worked to protect Yosemite
the Army Environmental Policy Institute published a
report with environmental management “good news”
stories from more than 50 Army installations and oth-
er facilities. These reflected widespread and diverse