Introduction

Sierra Club Bulletin, Hetch Hetchy Valley, Vol. VIII. No. 3, Plate LV, January, 1912

Wikipedia, Hetch Hetchy Valley, May 2002

This week we focus on the environment. In the Lecture, guest lecturer Dan Flores discusses topics important to environmental history as a field, including what exactly that field is, extractive economies in the American West, national forests and parks, as well as contemporary issues of regional importance.

Maps & Cityscapes profiles the Northern Spotted Owl and attempts to preserve it, as well as dam removal in the Northwest. Tribal Perspectives discusses Makah tribal whale hunting and the issues surrounding endangered species and native rights.

People and the Humanities profiles writers and activists Rachel Carson and Frances Moore Lappe and Clancy Gordon of the University of Montana. We also provide an excerpt from Carson’s Silent Spring. Note the snow melt on the two pictures of the Mountain of the Holy Cross on the introduction page to the People section. The Research section presents our top reading and viewing picks for this topic.

Assignment suggestions for this week’s content include:

• Focusing on any one of the topics presented by Dr. Flores or on our “web references” link on the Research section. Many of these topics are relevant today but can be traced back for decades. Consider following the history of one park, law or issue.
• What is the proper balance between environmental protection (such as the endangered species act) and person or group rights? Tribal perspectives speaks to this, or course, but also consider the current trend of dam removal in the Northwest compared to dam building projects in other areas of the world such as China; does the water and power produced by these dams override environmental concerns? Should the standards of environmental protection be the same for developing countries or should they be different?
• Consider examining the Kyoto Protocol and the current attempts to develop an international emissions treaty. Who (including but not limited to the U. S.) resists these treaties and why?
• What are the arguments for and against global warming? Who still does not believe in it? Do they have any valid arguments? How did knowledge and understanding of the science behind global warming develop?