■ Breaking a “commons” into smaller, privately owned parcels fragments
the policies of governing the entire “commons.” Different standards and
practices used on one parcel may or may not affect all other parcels.NAMES TO KNOW
RACHEL CARSON: Wrote Silent Spring, which spurred a reversal in
national pesticide policy, led to a nationwide ban on DDT and other
pesticides, and inspired a grassroots environmental movement that led to the
creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
ALDO LEOPOLD: Best known for his book A Sand County Almanac.
Influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in
wilderness conservation, emphasizing biodiversity and ecology. Developed
the science of wildlife management.
JOHN MUIR: Helped to save the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park,
and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is now one of
the most important environmental conservation organizations in the United
States.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT: As the twenty-sixth president of the United
States, he used his position to pave the way for environmentalists of the
future. He is known for setting aside land for national forests, establishing
wildlife refuges, developing the farmlands of the American West, and
advocating protection of natural resources. Roosevelt set aside 150 million
acres for forest reserves, created 50 wildlife refuges, turned much of the arid
land of the southwestern United States into farmland, and initiated sixteen
major reclamation projects in the southwest.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU: Author of Walden, who viewed unity and
community as important aspects of nature, and wrote that all disturbances in
these links are caused by human beings and that modern materialism would
lead to the destruction of the environment needed for humans and other living
things to survive. Wrote about the need for national forest preserves and about
the destruction caused by dams. His work raised the environmental
consciousness of many generations of readers.