Conservation

Conservation is the protection of certain features from modification and use. The evolution of conservation ideas, coupled with the creation of particular models of natural resource management, are rooted in key historical events, ethics, political philosophies, and understandings about the relationships between humans and the environment. These ideas also differ culturally, as many countries have pursued their own conservation strategies that fit with local understandings of the environment. Interest in conservation in the United States expanded at the end of the 19th century as the result of economic, demographic and environmental factors. Prior to this time, industrial and urban expansion on the continent superseded a national concern for conserving the American landscape. Environmental historian Roderick Nash argues that Americans were primarily afraid of the wilderness ...