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99-703: The monument is in two sections. The northern section surrounds General Grant Grove and other parts of Kings Canyon National Park and is administered by the Hume Lake Ranger District. The southern section, which includes Long Meadow Grove , is directly south of Sequoia National Park and is administered by the Western Divide Ranger District, surrounding the eastern half of the Tule River Indian Reservation . The Giant Sequoia National Monument

198-478: A Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculation. In addition, WWF has launched several notable worldwide campaigns including Earth Hour and Debt-for-Nature Swap , and its current work is organized around these six areas: food, climate, freshwater, wildlife, forests, and oceans. Institutions such as the WWF have historically been the cause of the displacement and divide between Indigenous populations and

297-466: A Romantic poem urging a lumberjack to avoid an oak tree that has sentimental value. The poem was set to music later that year by Henry Russell . Lines from the song have been quoted by environmentalists. Conservation was revived in the mid-19th century, with the first practical application of scientific conservation principles to the forests of India. The conservation ethic that began to evolve included three core principles: that human activity damaged

396-577: A conservative school of thought which aims to preserve natural resources expressly for their continued sustainable use by humans. The conservation movement can be traced back to John Evelyn 's work Sylva , which was presented as a paper to the Royal Society in 1662. Published as a book two years later, it was one of the most highly influential texts on forestry ever published. Timbre resources in England were becoming dangerously depleted at

495-446: A country has been heralded its champion in the current times. Costa Rica hosts an astonishing number of species, given its size, having more animal and plant species than the US and Canada combined hosting over 500,000 species of plants and animals. Despite this, Costa Rica is only 250 miles long and 150 miles wide. A widely accepted theory for the origin of this unusual density of species

594-422: A national priority, and has been at the forefront of preserving its natural environment with 28% of its land protected in the form of national parks, reserves, and wildlife refuges, which is under the administrative control of SINAC (National System of Conservation Areas) a division of MINAE (Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications). SINAC has subdivided the country into various zones depending on

693-536: A nature which includes humans rather than excluding them from the necessity of conservation. While other conservation theories integrate some of the elements of convivial conservation, none move away from both dichotomies and capitalist valuation principles. Source: The early years of the environmental and conservation movements were rooted in the safeguarding of game to support the recreation activities of elite white men, such as sport hunting . This led to an economy to support and perpetuate these activities as well as

792-538: A new Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan. As of August 2010 only one location in the monument, the Generals Highway , is listed on the National Register of Historic Places , but the monument does have several hundred sites that are potentially eligible for the register. General Grant Grove General Grant Grove , a section of the greater Kings Canyon National Park ,

891-454: A part of nature. The emphasis on nature as for and by humans creates a human responsibility to care for the environment as a way of caring for themselves. It also redefines nature as not only being pristine and untouched, but cultivated by humans in everyday formats. The theory is a long-term process of structural change to move away from capitalist valuation in favor of a system emphasizing everyday and local living. Convivial conservation creates

990-409: A politics of equity, structural change and  environmental  justice, convivial conservation is considered a radical theory as it focuses on the structural political-economy of modern nation states and the need to create structural change. Convivial conservation creates a more integrated approach which reconfigures the nature-human configuration to create a world in which humans are recognized as

1089-718: A proper Monument Plan can be developed in accordance with the Presidential Proclamation,… and in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)…" In January 2008, the Sequoia National Forest published a notice of intent in the Federal Register that they intended to prepare an environmental impact statement and were beginning a year-long collaborative scoping process for development of

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1188-478: A racially weaker nation. This lead Roosevelt to support the passing of many immigration restrictions, eugenics legislations and wildlife preservation laws. For instance, Roosevelt established the first national parks through the Antiquities Act of 1906 while also endorsing the removal of Indigenous Americans from their tribal lands within the parks. This move was promoted and endorsed by other leaders of

1287-717: A specific conservation topic. This includes assessing the current effectiveness of different management interventions, threats and emerging problems and economic factors. Evidence-based conservation was organized based on the observations that decision making in conservation was based on intuition and or practitioner experience often disregarding other forms of evidence of successes and failures (e.g. scientific information). This has led to costly and poor outcomes. Evidence-based conservation provides access to information that will support decision making through an evidence-based framework of "what works" in conservation. Deforestation and overpopulation are issues affecting all regions of

1386-526: A supporting role in the decline of liberalism and the rise of modern environmentalism. Although Americans consistently rank environmental issues as "important", polling data indicates that in the voting booth voters rank the environmental issues low relative to other political concerns. The growth of the Republican party's political power in the inland West (apart from the Pacific coast) was facilitated by

1485-668: A vital part of the National Park Service's efforts to manage Kings Canyon and General Grant Grove. Another issue of growing importance to the Grove is anthropogenic air pollution. National Park Service employees fear that greenhouse gas emissions have increased temperatures, and that the increased temperatures have already negatively altered the habitats of the national parks and that ozone affects sequoia seedling growth. Research has indicated that climate change has already affected Kings Canyon. Rising temperatures have pushed

1584-465: Is a foundation with 55% of funding from individuals and bequests, 19% from government sources (such as the World Bank , DFID , USAID ) and 8% from corporations in 2014. WWF aims to "stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature." The Living Planet Report is published every two years by WWF since 1998; it is based on

1683-506: Is a modern one but its practice has clearly defended some of the sub Arctic wildernesses and the wildlife in those regions for thousands of years, especially by indigenous peoples such as the Evenk, Yakut, Sami, Inuit and Cree. The fur trade and hunting by these peoples have preserved these regions for thousands of years. Ironically, the pressure now upon them comes from non-renewable resources such as oil, sometimes to make synthetic clothing which

1782-694: Is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources , including animal , fungus , and plant species as well as their habitat for the future. Conservationists are concerned with leaving the environment in a better state than the condition they found it in. Evidence-based conservation seeks to use high quality scientific evidence to make conservation efforts more effective. The early conservation movement evolved out of necessity to maintain natural resources such as fisheries , wildlife management , water , soil , as well as conservation and sustainable forestry . The contemporary conservation movement has broadened from

1881-580: Is a tribe of hunters who were influential in establishing the Capitania del Alto y Bajo Isoso (CABI). CABI promotes economic growth and survival of the Izoceno people while discouraging the rapid destruction of habitat within Bolivia's Gran Chaco . They are responsible for the creation of the 34,000 square kilometre Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park and Integrated Management Area (KINP). The KINP protects

1980-407: Is advocated as a humane substitute for fur. (See Raccoon dog for case study of the conservation of an animal through fur trade.) Similarly, in the case of the beaver, hunting and fur trade were thought to bring about the animal's demise, when in fact they were an integral part of its conservation. For many years children's books stated and still do, that the decline in the beaver population was due to

2079-473: Is largely unaware of the customs and values held by those within the territory surrounding nature and their role within it. In Japan, the town of Shiraho had traditional ways of tending to nature that were lost due to colonization and militarization by the United States. The return to traditional sustainability practices constituted a “conservation near” approach. This engages those near in proximity to

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2178-461: Is more of a bodily or "primitive" consciousness, which is associated with lower-intelligence and people of color. A new, integrated approach to conservation is being investigated in recent years by institutions such as WWF. The socionatural relationships centered on the interactions based in reciprocity and empathy, making conservation efforts being accountable to the local community and ways of life, changing in response to values, ideals, and beliefs of

2277-696: Is the free mixing of species from both North and South America occurring on this "inter-oceanic" and "inter-continental" landscape. Preserving the natural environment of this fragile landscape, therefore, has drawn the attention of many international scholars and scientists. MINAE (Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications) and its responsible for many conservation efforts in Costa Rica it achieves through its many agencies, including SINAC (National System of Conservation Areas), FONAFIFO (national forest fund), and CONAGEBIO (National Commission for Biodiversity Management). Costa Rica has made conservation

2376-647: The Pittman–Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act was signed into law, providing funding for state agencies to carry out their conservation efforts. Environmental reemerged on the national agenda in 1970, with Republican Richard Nixon playing a major role, especially with his creation of the Environmental Protection Agency . The debates over the public lands and environmental politics played

2475-592: The Rough Fire burned through the northern section of the grove and killed 12 trees with diameters greater than 4 ft (1.2 m). General Grant Grove has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Csb ). It is characterized by dry summers that are warm during the day and cool during the night. Winters are wet and cool, with frequent rain and snow and nighttime temperatures dropping below freezing. Even though few visitors traveled to General Grant National Park in its early years, incidents of vandalism were common from

2574-643: The United States Forest Service , signed into law the creation of five national parks, and signed the year 1906 Antiquities Act , under which he proclaimed 18 new national monuments . He also established the first 51 bird reserves , four game preserves , and 150 national forests , including Shoshone National Forest , the nation's first. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately 230,000,000 acres (930,000 km ). Gifford Pinchot had been appointed by McKinley as chief of Division of Forestry in

2673-441: The environment , that there was a civic duty to maintain the environment for future generations, and that scientific, empirically based methods should be applied to ensure this duty was carried out. Sir James Ranald Martin was prominent in promoting this ideology, publishing many medico-topographical reports that demonstrated the scale of damage wrought through large-scale deforestation and desiccation, and lobbying extensively for

2772-533: The "taungya" system, in which Karen villagers provided labor for clearing, planting and weeding teak plantations. After seven years in Burma, Brandis was appointed Inspector General of Forests in India, a position he served in for 20 years. He formulated new forest legislation and helped establish research and training institutions. The Imperial Forest School at Dehradun was founded by him. Germans were prominent in

2871-538: The 1960s. The Fauna Preservation Society of Ngamiland (FPS) was formed in 1962 by the husband and wife team: Robert Kay and June Kay, environmentalists working in conjunction with the Batawana tribes to preserve wildlife habitat. The FPS promotes habitat conservation and provides local education for preservation of wildlife. Conservation initiatives were met with strong opposition from the Botswana government because of

2970-531: The 20th century turned to the wilderness to escape the industrialization of cities. However, many of these early conservationists became part of and influenced the Nazi party . Like elite and influential Americans of the early 20th century, they embraced eugenics and racism and promoted the idea that Nordic people are superior . Although the conservation movement developed in Europe in the 18th century, Costa Rica as

3069-503: The Army protected the parks effectively in its early years. In 1906, the State of California ceded control of the park to the federal government and in 1916, the establishment of the National Park Service permanently placed management of the park with the newly created National Park Service . Even after the establishment of General Grant National Park, private interests sought to profit from

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3168-612: The Association on the failure of agriculture in India. These lectures influenced the government under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie to introduce the first permanent and large-scale forest conservation program in the world in 1855, a model that soon spread to other colonies , as well the United States . In the same year, Cleghorn organised the Madras Forest Department and in 1860 the department banned

3267-648: The Department of Agriculture. In 1905, his department gained control of the national forest reserves. Pinchot promoted private use (for a fee) under federal supervision. In 1907, Roosevelt designated 16 million acres (65,000 km ) of new national forests just minutes before a deadline. In May 1908, Roosevelt sponsored the Conference of Governors held in the White House, with a focus on natural resources and their most efficient use. Roosevelt delivered

3366-473: The Giant Forest, however, spurred further human interest in the region, and the native population began to contract contagious diseases from incoming white settlers. Tharp claimed that the natives pleaded with him to help them prevent white settlers from entering the valley. When Tharp told them this was impossible, the natives elected to leave the valley. By 1865, within twenty years of Tharp's arrival in

3465-417: The Giant Forest, the natives of the region had moved elsewhere and the Giant Forest was open to timber companies and cattle ranchers. With the growing presence of timber and cattle interests, conservationists began to advocate for the preservation of the region. In 1873, John Muir , a renowned naturalist, hiked from Yosemite to the Giant Forest. After the hike, Muir began advocating for federal protection of

3564-524: The Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan, which provided for use by an international public as well as for the protection and restoration of 33 giant sequoia groves and their ecosystems. Subsequently, two lawsuits were brought challenging the plan. In October 2006, Federal District Court Judge Charles Breyer found in favor of the plaintiffs and remanded the plan to the U.S. Forest Service "…so that

3663-464: The Great Race, or The Racial Basis of European History", which based its premise on eugenics and outlined a hierarchy of races, with white, "Nordic" men at the top, and all other races below. The German translation of this book was used by Nazi Germany as the source for many of their beliefs and was even proclaimed by Hitler to be his "Bible". One of the first established conservation agencies in

3762-522: The Interior, the Sierra Club , and Congress. Kings Canyon National Park included General Grant Grove and Kings Valley, an area that had been outside the protection of General Grant National Park. In order to gain support for the park, Secretary Ickes commissioned naturalist photographer and Sierra Club member Ansel Adams to photograph the area. Adams' photography convinced Congress to sign into law

3861-608: The U.S. and on how to structure the Forest Service. Both conservationists and preservationists appeared in political debates during the Progressive Era (the 1890s–early 1920s). There were three main positions. The debate between conservation and preservation reached its peak in the public debates over the construction of California's Hetch Hetchy dam in Yosemite National Park which supplies

3960-518: The United States is the National Audubon Society . Founded in 1905, its priority was to protect and conserve various waterbird species. However, the first state-level Audubon group was created in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall to convince women to refrain from buying hats made with bird feathers- a common practice at the time. The organization is named after John Audubon , a naturalist and legendary bird painter. Audubon

4059-459: The United States' national Christmas tree . General Grant Grove consists of 154 acres (0.62 km ) and is geographically isolated from the rest of Kings Canyon National Park. The original inhabitants of what is today General Grant Grove and Kings Canyon National Park were natives of the Shoshonean language group. The Monache , Tübatulabal , and Yokuts were the primary native groups of

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4158-403: The belief that the cities, industries and factories that were overtaking the wilderness and threatening the native plants and animals were also consuming and threatening the racial vigor that they believed white Americans held which made them superior. Roosevelt was a big believer that white male virility depended on wildlife for its vigor, and that, consequently, depleting wildlife would result in

4257-480: The bill that established Kings Canyon as a national park, with General Grant Grove being annexed into the park's boundaries. Fusing Kings Canyon with General Grant Grove allowed the National Park Service to strengthen the protection and management of the sequoias in both. After World War II, the National Park Service expanded its function to include a new endeavor: scientific research. The Leopold Report , published by Dr. Starker Leopold in 1963, advocated returning

4356-511: The cabins in Grant Grove in the past half century, and park management hoped improving facilities would increase park attendance. The National Park Service drafted an Environmental Impact Statement detailing their plans to expand accommodations in Grant Grove. The National Park Service outlined two options of action. One involved improving existing facilities and the other included adding ninety-eight additional units for tourists. Eventually,

4455-557: The canyon. Because of the sequoia's size and durability, the Giant Forest was a region of particular value to loggers. The Kaweah Colony , a socialist colony which lived in the forest until 1892, hoped to profit from lumber production and constructed the first road in the park. Lumber interests did not have a stranglehold on the region, however. The federal government ensured protection of the General Grant Tree in 1880, when it withdrew from sale four acres of land surrounding

4554-428: The conservation movement, including Frederick Law Olmsted , a leading landscape architect, conservationist, and supporter of the national park system, and Gifford Pinchot , a leading eugenicist and conservationist. Furthering the economic exploitation of the environment and national parks for wealthy whites was the beginning of ecotourism in the parks, which included allowing some Indigenous Americans to remain so that

4653-430: The continued wilderness conservation to support the corporate interests supplying the hunters with the equipment needed for their sport. Game parks in England and the United States allowed wealthy hunters and fishermen to deplete wildlife , while hunting by Indigenous groups, laborers and the working class, and poor citizens - especially for the express use of sustenance - was vigorously monitored. Scholars have shown that

4752-411: The early movement's emphasis on use of sustainable yield of natural resources and preservation of wilderness areas to include preservation of biodiversity . Some say the conservation movement is part of the broader and more far-reaching environmental movement , while others argue that they differ both in ideology and practice. Conservation is seen as differing from environmentalism and it is generally

4851-437: The ecological diversity of that region - as seen in figure 1. The country has used this ecological diversity to its economic advantage in the form of a thriving ecotourism industry , putting its commitment to nature, on display to visitors from across the globe. The tourism market in Costa Rica is estimated to grow by USD 1.34 billion from 2023 to 2028, growing at a CAGR of 5.76%. You know, when we first set up WWF, our objective

4950-420: The entire grove. From the viewpoint, hikers have access to a lookout at 7,520 feet to the northeast of Grant Grove. In addition to the General Grant Tree, which stands a colossal 270 feet tall and 107 feet around, Grant Grove is also home to the eleventh largest tree in the world, which stands an imposing 254 feet tall. Conservationism The conservation movement , also known as nature conservation ,

5049-491: The environment . It was formerly named the "World Wildlife Fund", which remains its official name in Canada and the United States . WWF is the world's largest conservation organization with over five million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries, supporting around 1,300 conservation and environmental projects. They have invested over $ 1 billion in more than 12,000 conservation initiatives since 1995. WWF

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5148-464: The establishment of the U.S. national parks , while setting aside land for preservation, was also a continuation of preserving the land for the recreation and enjoyment of elite white hunters and nature enthusiasts. While Theodore Roosevelt was one of the leading activists for the conservation movement in the United States, he also believed that the threats to the natural world were equally threats to white Americans. Roosevelt and his contemporaries held

5247-432: The federal government at the expense of resource conservation. In 2019, convivial conservation was an idea proposed by Bram Büscher and Robert Fletcher. Convivial conservation draws on social movements and concepts like environmental justice and structural change to create a post-capitalist approach to conservation. Convivial conservation rejects both human-nature dichotomies and capitalistic political economies. Built on

5346-589: The federal government to license private corporations to develop water and power projects on public lands. Following the Federal Power Act, the City of Los Angeles filed to build dams on the rivers both within park boundaries and outside the park. The City of Los Angeles' plan was met with extensive resistance from locals, however. Residents of the San Joaquin Valley spearheaded the resistance to

5445-468: The findings of the Leopold Report and mandated controlled burning in the national parks and national forests, including Kings Canyon. As such, the National Park Service reintroduced fire into the grove as a natural process to prevent brush build up. By 1972, Kings Canyon had implemented a prescribed burn plan that spanned the entire park, including General Grant Grove. Controlled burns today remain

5544-455: The five-volume Manual of Forestry (1889–96) on silviculture , forest management , forest protection , and forest utilization, which became the standard and enduring textbook for forestry students. The American movement received its inspiration from 19th century works that exalted the inherent value of nature, quite apart from human usage. Author Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) made key philosophical contributions that exalted nature. Thoreau

5643-426: The foreign ideals that are often imposed by foreign activists. Evidence-based conservation is the application of evidence in conservation biology and environmental management actions and policy making. It is defined as systematically assessing scientific information from published, peer-reviewed publications and texts, practitioners' experiences, independent expert assessment, and local and indigenous knowledge on

5742-504: The forest produce the largest amount of whatever crop or service will be most useful, and keep on producing it for generation after generation of men and trees." Theodore Roosevelt's view on conservationism remained dominant for decades; Franklin D. Roosevelt authorised the building of many large-scale dams and water projects, as well as the expansion of the National Forest System to buy out sub-marginal farms. In 1937,

5841-493: The forestry administration of British India. As well as Brandis, Berthold Ribbentrop and Sir William P.D. Schlich brought new methods to Indian conservation, the latter becoming the Inspector-General in 1883 after Brandis stepped down. Schlich helped to establish the journal Indian Forester in 1874, and became the founding director of the first forestry school in England at Cooper's Hill in 1885. He authored

5940-440: The fur trade. In reality however, the decline in beaver numbers was because of habitat destruction and deforestation, as well as its continued persecution as a pest (it causes flooding). In Cree lands, however, where the population valued the animal for meat and fur, it continued to thrive. The Inuit defend their relationship with the seal in response to outside critics. The Izoceño - Guaraní of Santa Cruz Department , Bolivia ,

6039-461: The grove risk of extensive habitat loss through fire. The creation of the National Park Service in 1916 did not alter fire control policies. The Leopold Report , however, soon did transform fire policy in Kings Canyon. In fact, Dr. Leopold used the sequoia groves in Kings Canyon as evidence of the need for proscribed burning and improved management practices. The 1964 Wilderness Act confirmed

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6138-539: The human impacts on the Giant Forest, overgrazing by deer, and the danger present to threatened species. By 1971, Kings Canyon had a chief scientist, botanist, and several research assistants on staff conducting research that would both preserve the sequoias and provide academic information for future generations. By 1982, park officials began to focus on the deteriorating quality of accommodations in General Grant Grove. Little improvements had been made to

6237-584: The hunters participating in the program has provided CABI with important data required to make educated decisions about the use of the land. Hunters have been willing participants in this program because of pride in their traditional activities, encouragement by their communities and expectations of benefits to the area. In order to discourage illegal South African hunting parties and ensure future local use and sustainability, indigenous hunters in Botswana began lobbying for and implementing conservation practices in

6336-477: The institutionalization of forest conservation activities in British India through the establishment of Forest Departments . Edward Percy Stebbing warned of desertification of India. The Madras Board of Revenue started local conservation efforts in 1842, headed by Alexander Gibson , a professional botanist who systematically adopted a forest conservation program based on scientific principles. This

6435-461: The lands in the conservation efforts and holds them accountable for their direct effects on its preservation. While conservation-far drills visuals and sight as being the main interaction medium between people and the environment, conservation near includes a hands-on, full sensory experience permitted by conservation-near methodologies. An emphasis on observation only stems from a deeper association with intellect and observation. The alternative to this

6534-620: The lands they inhabit. The reason is the organization's historically colonial, paternalistic, and neoliberal approaches to conservation. Claus, in her article "Drawing the Sea Near: Satoumi and Coral Reef Conservation in Okinawa", expands on this approach, called "conservation far", in which access to lands is open to external foreign entities, such as researchers or tourists, but prohibited to local populations. The conservation initiatives are therefore taking place "far" away. This entity

6633-507: The larger problems of air quality will continue to pose a challenge to the survival of the ancient trees despite efforts by the National Park Service to remedy the impacts. General Grant Grove consists of a number of sequoia trees situated around a half-mile loop. Visitors have access to a number of trails, including Big Stump Trail, Redwood Canyon Trail, and the Big Baldy Trail. The Panoramic Viewpoint also offers unmatched views of

6732-456: The locals. Japanese seascapes are often integral to the identity of the residents and includes historical memories and spiritual engagements which need to be recognized and considered. The involvement of communities gives residents a stake in the issue, leading to a long-term solution which emphasizes sustainable resource usage and the empowerment of the communities. Conservation efforts are able to take into consideration cultural values rather than

6831-489: The monies tied to big-game hunting. In 1963, BaTawanga Chiefs and tribal hunter/adventurers in conjunction with the FPS founded Moremi National Park and Wildlife Refuge , the first area to be set aside by tribal people rather than governmental forces. Moremi National Park is home to a variety of wildlife, including lions, giraffes, elephants, buffalo, zebra, cheetahs and antelope, and covers an area of 3,000 square kilometers. Most of

6930-712: The most biodiverse portion of the Gran Chaco, an ecoregion shared with Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. In 1996, the Wildlife Conservation Society joined forces with CABI to institute wildlife and hunting monitoring programs in 23 Izoceño communities. The partnership combines traditional beliefs and local knowledge with the political and administrative tools needed to effectively manage habitats. The programs rely solely on voluntary participation by local hunters who perform self-monitoring techniques and keep records of their hunts. The information obtained by

7029-456: The nations' remaining wilderness to conditions similar to those encountered by the first white settlers of North America. In order to do so, the Leopold Report stressed the need to hire scientists to conduct research and maintain the ecosystems within the park. In Sequoia and Kings Canyon, the effects of the Leopold report were felt immediately. Newly hired scientists conducted studies measuring

7128-697: The opening address: "Conservation as a National Duty". In 1903 Roosevelt toured the Yosemite Valley with John Muir , who had a very different view of conservation, and tried to minimize commercial use of water resources and forests. Working through the Sierra Club he founded, Muir succeeded in 1905 in having Congress transfer the Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley to the federal government. While Muir wanted nature preserved for its own sake, Roosevelt subscribed to Pinchot's formulation, "to make

7227-509: The park elected to construct additional units in Grant Grove and improve accommodations on the existing units. The cabins of the Giant Forest Lodge Historic District , a 31 mile drive away, had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Because of their negative impact on the trees, the cabins were demolished between 1997 and 2000. The site was restored to a natural state. In 2015,

7326-478: The park's inception. Tourists often carved their names into trees and shot arrows into them. The General Grant Tree, the largest in the grove, fell victim to the most vandalism. In order to combat these incidents, the United States Army fenced off the major trees. Sheep overgrazing was another early problem that plagued General Grant National Park. Grazing sheep posed a major threat to the ecosystem of

7425-414: The parks, as sheep overgrazed and killed plant species within park limits. Army officials prevented overgrazing by kicking intruding ranchers and sheep out of the park. Fire management has always been a vital issue in park management, although fire policy has changed dramatically since the park's inception. While current management practices in General Grant Grove include prescribed burns, fire suppression

7524-421: The proposed dam. After three years, the City of Los Angeles' petition to dam the park's rivers was rejected. However, the fight to prevent the damming of the rivers continued through 1965, when all of Kings Canyon was protected from hydroelectric development. In 1940, General Grant Grove became a section of the newly created Kings Canyon National Park, thanks to the combined efforts of Harold Ickes , Secretary of

7623-516: The region. In 1846, Hale Tharp , a disenchanted miner who hoped to establish a cattle ranch in the region, became the first white settler to enter the Giant Forest that would later constitute Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Tharp carved a shelter out of a fallen sequoia tree and began to raise cattle. Initially, Native Americans of the region welcomed Tharp, as he helped them hunt and coexisted peacefully among them. Tharp's settlement in

7722-492: The resources within the park. Officials from Los Angeles County hoped to use the park's major rivers, the Kings , Kern , and Kaweah , to harness hydroelectric power for the city, but locals remained wary of the environmental impact of damming. The Mt. Whitney Power Company began development of power stations along the rivers in 1898, and hoped to eventually dam the three rivers to provide power. The 1920 Federal Power Act allowed

7821-580: The rise of popular opposition to public lands reform. Successful Democrats in the inland West and Alaska typically take more conservative positions on environmental issues than Democrats from the Coastal states. Conservatives drew on new organizational networks of think tanks, industry groups, and citizen-oriented organizations, and they began to deploy new strategies that affirmed the rights of individuals to their property, protection of extraction rights, to hunt and recreate, and to pursue happiness unencumbered by

7920-554: The road built by the Kaweah Colony, early tourists camped in the park using tents and temporary shelters. In subsequent years, accommodations and lodgings were constructed to attract visitors. Initially, General Grant National Park was under the supervision of the State of California and protection of the U.S. Army. State officials oversaw tourist issues, while the Army was responsible for park protection. Despite only receiving $ 8,000 to protect all three California National Parks,

8019-435: The snow line higher into the mountains. The higher snow line will likely lessen water storage, change species' habitats, and make fires more severe. Because the sequoias of General Grant Grove thrive under a distinct set of conditions, the impact of climate change could result in habitat loss for the trees, as fewer areas within the park will retain the conditions necessary for the sequoias' survival. Specifically, an increase in

8118-460: The temperature could lead to failure in sequoia regeneration and increased mortality from long droughts. Current restoration plans aim to slow the effects of climate change through reducing air pollution within the parks and the greater San Joaquin Valley . Kings Canyon is among the leading parks in this effort. But since climate change occurs as a result of human activity mainly outside the park,

8217-470: The time, and Evelyn advocated the importance of conserving the forests by managing the rate of depletion and ensuring that the cut down trees get replenished. The field developed during the 18th century, especially in Prussia and France where scientific forestry methods were developed. These methods were first applied rigorously in British India from the early 19th century. The government was interested in

8316-528: The tourists could get what was to be considered the full "wilderness experience". Another long-term supporter, partner, and inspiration to Roosevelt, Madison Grant , was a well known American eugenicist and conservationist. Grant worked alongside Roosevelt in the American conservation movement and was even secretary and president of the Boone and Crockett Club. In 1916, Grant published the book "The Passing of

8415-539: The tree. Advocacy for protection of the forest gained traction in the 1870s when agricultural interests in the Central Valley sought to end the harmful practices of sheep herders and lumber companies. Local farmers objected to the economic exploitation of the canyon on two levels. First, grazing and lumbering resulted in runoff which impacted farming in nearby towns. Second, locals feared that habitat loss would detract from their scenic and recreational enjoyment of

8514-704: The use shifting cultivation . Cleghorn's 1861 manual, The forests and gardens of South India , became the definitive work on the subject and was widely used by forest assistants in the subcontinent. In 1861, the Forest Department extended its remit into the Punjab . Sir Dietrich Brandis , a German forester, joined the British service in 1856 as superintendent of the teak forests of Pegu division in eastern Burma . During that time Burma's teak forests were controlled by militant Karen tribals. He introduced

8613-508: The use of forest produce and began managing the forests with measures to reduce the risk of wildfire in order to protect the "household" of nature, as it was then termed. This early ecological idea was in order to preserve the growth of delicate teak trees, which was an important resource for the Royal Navy . Concerns over teak depletion were raised as early as 1799 and 1805 when the Navy

8712-405: The water supply of San Francisco. Muir, leading the Sierra Club , declared that the valley must be preserved for the sake of its beauty: "No holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man." President Roosevelt put conservationist issues high on the national agenda. He worked with all the major figures of the movement, especially his chief advisor on the matter, Gifford Pinchot and

8811-500: The wilderness. On October 1, 1890, in response to pressure from agricultural interests from citizens in towns such as Visalia and conservationists such as John Muir, who wrote a number of articles in journals describing the lands' beauty, Congress passed a bill that established Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant national parks. Tourism in General Grant National Park was limited in its early years. Utilizing

8910-407: The world. The consequent destruction of wildlife habitat has prompted the creation of conservation groups in other countries, some founded by local hunters who have witnessed declining wildlife populations first hand. Also, it was highly important for the conservation movement to solve problems of living conditions in the cities and the overpopulation of such places. The idea of incentive conservation

9009-430: Was actively followed in the park's early years. In fact, the Army practiced active suppression of fires from the groves' inception, which resulted in a brush buildup throughout the grove. In electing to suppress fires, the Army kept with early 20th century practices of fire control. Since consistent fire maintains the health of a forest ecosystem, the Army and the State of California's practice of fire suppression endangered

9108-467: Was also a slaveholder who also included many racist tales in his books. Despite his views of racial inequality, Audubon did find black and Indigenous people to be scientifically useful, often using their local knowledge in his books and relying on them to collect specimens for him. The ideology of the conservation movement in Germany paralleled that of the U.S. and England. Early German naturalists of

9207-488: Was created by President Bill Clinton in Proclamation 7295 on April 15, 2000, and published as 65 FR 24095 on April 25. In August 2023, gray wolves reappeared at Giant Sequoia National Monument for the first time in more than 100 years. Presidential Proclamation 7295 required that a management plan be completed within three years. In January 2004, the Sequoia National Forest published and began implementation of

9306-496: Was deeply committed to conserving natural resources. He encouraged the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902 to promote federal construction of dams to irrigate small farms and placed 230 million acres (360,000 sq mi; 930,000 km ) under federal protection. Roosevelt set aside more federal land for national parks and nature preserves than all of his predecessors combined. Roosevelt established

9405-472: Was established by the U.S. Congress in 1890 and is located in Fresno County, California . The primary attraction of General Grant Grove is the giant sequoia trees that populate the grove. General Grant Grove's best-known tree is called General Grant , which is 267 ft (81 m) tall and the third-largest known tree in the world. The General Grant tree is over 1,500 years old and is known as

9504-560: Was interested in peoples' relationship with nature and studied this by living close to nature in a simple life. He published his experiences in the book Walden , which argued that people should become intimately close with nature. The ideas of Sir Brandis , Sir William P.D. Schlich and Carl A. Schenck were also very influential— Gifford Pinchot , the first chief of the USDA Forest Service , relied heavily upon Brandis' advice for introducing professional forest management in

9603-659: Was the first case of state management of forests in the world. These local attempts gradually received more attention by the British government as the unregulated felling of trees continued unabated. In 1850, the British Association in Edinburgh formed a committee to study forest destruction at the behest of Hugh Cleghorn a pioneer in the nascent conservation movement. He had become interested in forest conservation in Mysore in 1847 and gave several lectures at

9702-399: Was to save endangered species from extinction. But we have failed completely; we haven't managed to save a single one. If only we had put all that money into condoms, we might have done some good. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961, working in the field of the wilderness preservation, and the reduction of human impact on

9801-619: Was undergoing a massive expansion during the Napoleonic Wars ; this pressure led to the first formal conservation Act, which prohibited the felling of small teak trees. The first forestry officer was appointed in 1806 to regulate and preserve the trees necessary for shipbuilding. This promising start received a setback in the 1820s and 30s, when laissez-faire economics and complaints from private landowners brought these early conservation attempts to an end. In 1837, American poet George Pope Morris published "Woodman, Spare that Tree!",

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