Environmental History Essay

Article Review

From the beginning of time, man has had an impact on the environment. The impact has mostly been negative because man has always taken from the environment for his consumption without replenishing it. However, every animal or plant in an ecosystem has a valuable part to play. Conventionally, human history has been anchored on the study of man and his activities. History is defined as the chronological record of the past events of the development of people.

Thesis

Aldo Leopold suggested that human history could be explained through ecology. This idea is the genesis of the branch of history called environmental history. The purpose of environmental history is to raise the awareness of the significance of nature in history. An environmental historian can help change man’s relationship with nature. Knowing the earth’s history and limits will allow man to feed himself without degrading nature’s resources. This take on history has been elaborated by Worster in his article of 1990, Transformations of the Earth: Toward an Agro-ecological Perspective in History (Worster, 1990).

William Cronon in the Importance of Audience Consideration in Environmental History agrees that the development of past events studied in history can be explained by ecological research and ideas. As an essential course that is meant to create awareness environmental history offers a historical explanation which can be taken negatively by the society. Since such explanations have to be heard by a certain audience, it is important for the authors to have a few tactics up their sleeves which would help with the reception of the message. Only by doing so, will the people receive the message and make changes in their relationship with nature (Cronon).

In American Wildlife Policy and Environmental Ideology: Poisoning Coyotes, Thomas Dunlap discusses the adverse impacts of animal preservation for hunting purposes through the coyotes killing. Coyotes were considered predators which ate deer. Predators, forests and Indians were all regarded as something to be removed to pave the way for civilization. Coyotes especially, were poisoned to prevent them from killing sheep (Dunlap,1986).

Research on animal ecology matured and the ecological principles undermined the various forms of predator control. Armed with more knowledge the defense for the inhumane killing of coyotes became stronger. The general assumption was that by killing predators the other species in the ecosystem (such as sheep and deer) would increase in population. Studies showed that this ideology was a fallacy and that killing of predators to preserve another species can actually collapse the ecosystem. Predator control was never the key to abundance (Dunlap,1986).

In Fire Policy and Fire Research in the U.S. Forest Service, author Stephen Pyne explores another form of conservation of a component (fire) which man considered bad for the environment. Historically, wildfires were considered harmful to nature. Fire is considered a disruption to the preservation of ecosystems. This is an outdated belief that caused the forest service to carry out fire suppression practices (Pyne, 1981).

Through the study of fire ecology, these assumptions were undermined when they found out that some natural habitats are renewed and revitalized by fire. Fire helps some forest plants to germinate. The animals that ate those plants would also be affected when fire was suppressed. Fire suppression could eliminate species of plants or small animals and also those animals which depended on them. Fire sometimes plays an integral part in the survival of ecosystems and is now considered natural like windstorms or landslides (Pyne, 1981).

Man’s attempt at conservation has been misinformed until ecological research on the effects of the ecological component considered bad has been done in the ecosystem. From the study of different articles on the importance of environmental history and the control of part of the ecological system, has shown that interference with the ecological system causes it to collapse. The four articles are all united by the application of ecology to history, audiences, fire and predators.

All these four aspects have an impact on the environment and the ecosystems they are found in. Before conservation measures of the environment can be taken, it is important to learn how the species interact in an ecosystem and how control of one species affects the balance of the ecosystem. For this reason, this paper will look at importance of understanding and applying ecological principles before conservation measures can be taken (thesis statement).

What Unites Them

The four articles are united by the concept of understanding the environment through the study of ecology. In the study of environmental history, ecological ideas are used to explain the development of past events that shaped human history. The study draws a correlation between the past and the present by explaining the influence the environment and ecology has on the economy and settlement in general.

The aim of understanding this aspect of history is so that human beings can ultimately change their relationship with nature. The course looks at the weather, climate and how these impact the prices of agricultural products, epidemics harvest and the population. According to Worster, environmental history encompasses three levels. The first level is the understanding of nature, its history structure and distribution.

The second level covers the ability of man to use technology to convert nature for his own consumption purposes. Human relations with ecological systems reveal how man has been using nature for his own benefit and the impacts this has on the ecosystems. The final level of the study analyzes man’s values, ethics, ideologies and myths with regards to his relationship with nature over time. All these factors have been instrumental in shaping the settlement of people and nature (Worster, 1990).

According to Cronon in the Importance of Audience Consideration in Environmental History, the concept of environmental history can only be properly grasped if it is presented to the audience in such a way that it causes people to be pessimistic. The aim of the course is to ensure human beings are reminded of the impact nature had on human history and settlement. By reminding people of this impact, the hope is to create awareness that will be translated to action and conservation (Cronon).

Environmental history offers comprehensive explanations of the environmental concerns by placing them in a historical context. Unfortunately, most environmental historians elect a pessimistic attitude in the learners and stakeholders of the environment in the future. For this reason he teaches different tactics that can be used to relate the message efficiently. He does this by first identifying the reason why the pessimistic attitude is so prevalent a reaction to environmental works.

He states that the environmental explanations given are not oriented by ecological understanding rather by political interventions. When environmental historians write their works, they are contributions to contemporary environmental politics. As a result, their works do not help people (audience) to understand ecology and its impact on the past. Most works are just proposals on how to change the future. People will not have an impetus to change the future without an understanding of ecology and how it shaped the past (Cronon).

Pyne, in his article, establishes that there were fire polices which were passed by the U.S. Forest Service which caused conflicts with nature. The lack of ecological understanding of the impact fire had on the natural ecosystems caused the foresters to suppress fires in the name of conservation. The unfortunate thing is that the conservation assumptions they had about the impact of fires in the ecosystem was actually corrected when fire research was done and the field of fire ecology emerged. The defense for conservation of forests in the face of a mentality that thought of nature as something that prevented civilization was based on romantic notions.

Ecological research came to shore up those defenses in such a way that research was used to form policy instead of being used as a tool for policy. Fire ecologists studied fire behaviors and classified them. The classifications were then compared for consequences to the environment. By doing this, they could understand that there were natural fires which were necessary for growth of the forest habitat and there are those that came from reckless fire practices. For this reason, fire suppression mechanisms were not applied to all classifications of fire. Prescribed fires were environmentally benign (Pyne, 1981).

In an effort at conservation of deer, game managers decided to control coyotes which were considered predators. This was based on the erroneous belief that man could replace the predators in the ecological system. The deer were conserved for hunters who then sell beef and game for a cheap rate. This program went on for 20 years with success until the winter of 1924 and 1925. The herd of deer at the Kaibab National Forest on the north rim of the Grand Canyon began dying from disease and starvation. For the next ten years, the deer hard continued declining. When they investigated, they discovered that so many deer in one habitat had destroyed their ecosystem.

Similar scenarios were experienced in areas where hunters and predator control were used to increase game populations. The game managers had to understand the ecology of habitats in terms of the habitat food supply, weather, breeding and protection from predators. Ultimately, they had to understand how to restore natural habitats. This ecological understanding influenced arguments and changed the perspective of predation and nature. By 1950s, experts in gaming did not support predator programs which proposed increase n game populations through predator control (Dunlap,1986).

How Perspectives Differ

The first two articles are on environmental history as a course which can teach people ecological principle in the context of history. In other words this is the theory part of environmental history that seeks to change people’s view of nature. It can be used as a source of policy. The two articles by Pyne and Dunlap are practical application of ecological understanding which caused people to change their view on nature and its future use. Predator control and fire suppression were erroneous assumptions which were changed as a result of the understanding of ecology. Such practical occurrences have been converted into hallmarks of conservation which are used to elicit positive attitudes for changing man’s relationship with nature (Dunlap,1986; Pyne, 1981).

On the other hand, the articles by Worster and Cronon on environmental history seek to influence change through the understanding of ecological principles first. The study of environmental history looks at different events in the past that were influenced by nature. In Worster’s case, the presence of the plants on the Kentucky frontier and the impact they hard on the war as well as the settlement of Americans on the frontier are used to support the theory. The presence of blue grass was used to assess the fertility of the land especially for a community which was mostly agrarian.

Areas with hardy vegetation did not support agriculture and therefore homesteads could not be created in such areas. In short, the vegetation influenced settlement and history. The availability of such arable land at the frontier encouraged more people to settle there as well as fight the American Indians for the land (Cronon; Worster, 1990). According to Dunlap, the collapse of the deer population in the 1925 impacted the formation of policy about game control and conservation in the future. This historical event has been used to vividly tell of what will happen in the future if man continues to discount the future (Dunlap,1986).

This is best exemplified by the National Audubon Society’s Bird Lore Magazine which took to citing the ecological research to guide wildlife policy. The ecological research paved way to the understanding that in nature there are no good or bad species. Such distinctions supported the killing of predators to increase the deer. In this case the coyotes were considered bad while the deer were considered good species. Such classifications were based along economical and industrialization lines. The magazine informed its readers that all animals were valuable to the ecological system. Before this, nature writings used to describe nature scenes which man would have loved to observe. This changed to the support of those writers who promoted conservation of wildlife and decried killing of predators (Dunlap,1986).

Pyne’s article uses the perspective of res to show how fire ecology shaped the fire policy established then and still works today. Increased fire suppression just provided fuel for more fire outbreaks. Through fire research classification of fires allowed them to be tested for various measures which had different ecological consequences. By 1970, fire ecology has influenced the amendment of the 10.A.M policy to allow prescribed fires. In 1978, the forest service scrapped the policy and replaced it with a new one. In this new policy, fires were only classified into wildfires and prescribed fires. Wildfires were suppressed while prescribed fires were supported. Research was translated to management and became consolidated to theories that could be taught to the future generations. The forest service had to alter its earlier beliefs that all fires were undesirable (Pyne, 1981).

A Theme That Is Addressed By All Articles

The main theme established from all the articles is the fact that the environment has an impact on history. Nature is a balanced system which is self replenishing until someone interferes with that balance. People have never looked at the threads of history as those woven by nature itself rather by man himself. Since nature supports humanity and no the other way round, human beings needs to be reminded through history that they are not superior to nature. All problems with nature can be solved if people can understand ecology. The understanding of ecology through research has led to the alteration of policy. Environmental history teaches ecological principles which undermine all other ecological assumptions which interfere with nature’s balance (Cronon; Dunlap, 1986; Pyne, 1981; Worster, 1990).

Conclusion

All the authors have established the importance of ecological principles in the conservation of nature otherwise the balance of nature collapses. Without paying keen attention to the lessons that nature teaches, human beings will start to suffer as a result of their ignorance. The U.S forest service discovered that in their quest for industrial forestry, they needed to allow prescribed fires which were ecologically beneficial.

The forest game managers learned that they too many deer in one habitat destroy the entire ecological system. Environmental historians must learn to educate people about the environmental past as well as give proposals for the future conservation. Man seems to have forgotten his position in the biotic system. Environmental history seeks to make him aware of that position so that he can be careful to restore balance.

I think the study of at the end of this course; I will not feel hopeless about the future environmental conditions because I have a clear understanding of ecological principles. Since I have been equipped with this knowledge, I am no longer hopeless rather hopeful because I can restore the balance to nature. I can translate research into management of environmental systems which will impact the environment positively (Cronon; Dunlap, 1986; Pyne, 1981; Worster, 1990).

References

Cronon,W. Importance of audience consideration in environmental history.

Dunlap, T.R. (1986). American wildlife policy and environmental ideology: Poisoning Coyotes, 1939-1972. Pacific Historical Review, 55(3), 345-369

Pyne, S.J. (1981). Fire policy and wire research in the U.S. forest service. Journal of Forest History, 25(2), 64-77

Worster, D. (1990), Transformations of the earth: Toward an agro-ecological perspective in history. The Journal of American History, 76(4), 1087-1106.