Conservation and Environmentalism
Michigan governor Chase S. Osborn,
from his
papers
The concept of conservation of natural resources grew in the United States in the late nineteenth century as a reaction to the massive waste of resources of that era. In Michigan, influential citizens and government officials were appalled by the destruction of Michigan's virgin forests at the hands of unscrupulous logging companies, by the reduction of the state's fish populations through over fishing by commercial fishermen, and by the elimination of game animals and birds through market hunting.
As a result of their concern, the Michigan Fish Commission (1873), the state game warden (1887), and the Michigan Forestry Commission (1899) were established to protect and utilize fish, game, and forest resources. Common characteristics of these conservation programs were their interest in conserving and "improving" resources so that they could be used more effectively and efficiently, and the control of the programs by government managers and by the immediate users of the resources: fishermen, hunters, and the more advanced lumber companies.
After World War II new voices, with a new way of looking at humanity's relationship to the natural environment, joined those concerned about the use of natural resources. As a result of the rising standard of living and increased leisure time after the war, many middle class citizens became more interested in the value of the unspoiled environment for recreation, for respite from urban life, and as an indicator of public health, rather than as a collection of resources to be used. Later these feelings evolved for many into a respect for the value of the environment for its own sake. Over time this attitude toward the environment became known as environmentalism. Broadly based environmental citizen action groups grew to prevent or mitigate the abuse of the environment by special interests--in many cases those same users that had been the beneficiaries of the earlier conservation movement--and to pressure the government resource managers to support environmentalist objectives. The earliest activities of many of these environmentalist groups were in the defense of wild lands from intrusion by developers.
From the G. Mennen Williams papers
The Michigan Historical Collections has documented the environmental movement through a great number of manuscript collections, from the papers of governors and senators to those of environmental organizations and individual environmentalists.
Details about library holdings are available by searching MIRLYN through names of organizations and individuals, and through the subjects Conservation of natural resources and Environmental protection.