Shifting Ideas about the Natural World

Gray Squirrel: Endangered Animal in 1912

Around the middle of the 19th century, some people in the United States started to realize they were well into the process of wrecking the continent. A place that had been abundant with wildlife, forests, and prairie was looking bleak. The passenger pigeon was probably the most stark example of the carnage. When settlers first arrived in the United States, the birds were abundant--one eyewitness recorded a flock 1 mile wide and 240 miles long. By 1914 they were all dead. A combination of loss of habitat and rampant hunting killed them off. In 1912, gray squirrels were even threatened species, which is hard to imagine today.

It took a combination of laws and public education, and writers and thinkers agitating for conservation to change course. It's pretty hard to really understand what people thought about the natural world in those days. You can find both anecdotes of people appreciating nature and acting out in wanton disregard, or even malevolent hate for the natural world. Certainly the basis for conservation was already present in the hearts and minds of millions of people. Who were the people that were wreaking havoc?

The contemporary accounts blame various groups for the rampant environmental havoc. Farmers, freed slaves, and careless hunters are all named. It's interesting to wonder if those groups would have acted the same if they knew the scope of the changes they were making.