The development of national parks also illustrates the difference between early American and Canadian conservation action. First Wave: National and Provincial Parks They included not overcutting forests, the use of organic agricultural fertilizers and recycling. It made recommendations that foreshadowed the tenets of more modern environmentalism. Clifford Sifton,įormer minister of the interior, chaired the commission. The conference led to the establishment of Canada’s Commission of Conservation. It was American President Theodore Roosevelt, for example, who invited Mexico and Canada to join the United States at the North American ConservationĬonference in 1909. In Canada, the pioneer mentality of “unlimited” forests, lakes and wildlife persisted longer. This settlement demonstrated the harm that civilizationĬould do. This was likely because there was more extensive settlement in the United States. ( See also Forestry Lumberjacks.)ĭespite these early efforts, Americans were generally ahead of Canadians in organizing around conservationist goals. In 1900, Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, former premier of Quebec, led theĮstablishment of the Canadian Forestry Association. They advocated for controlled harvesting and reserved areas for future use. These lumbermen witnessed the rapid depletion of Canadian forests. Individuals with close ties to the forestry industry initiated many of Canada’s early conservation efforts. These conservationist efforts came to characterize North America’s first wave of environmentalism. However, as the landscape shifted from forest to farmland, efforts to preserve the continent’s natural resources grew. Initially, European colonists viewed North America’s vast wilderness as inexhaustible. American conservationists John Muir,įounder of the Sierra Club (1892), and Gifford Pinchot were also significant. These thinkers included ornithologist John James Audubon, who visited Canada in the 1830s, and writers James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, and Archibald Belaney and his wife, Anahareo, were also influential.Īmerican thinkers had an even greater effect. Initially, European scientific traditions shaped the views of these early naturalists. Other examples include pioneer writer Catharine Parr Trail and later, Frère Marie-Victorin. Notable among these early naturalists were Samuel de Champlain.Ĭhamplain kept detailed accounts of the flora, fauna and climate he was experiencing for the first time. These studies laid the foundation for botany, geology, Upon their arrival, explorers and European colonists began to catalogue Canada’s natural history. The first permanent European settlement in the 17th century. For these reasons, there were few large-scale conservation problems before This allowed the regions left behind to grow back and repopulate with wildlife. Nations and Inuit family groups often moved their settlements to new areas for better hunting. However, there is little evidence that these activities caused any long-term damage. Such practices as clearing areas for settlement and agriculture, or driving game by lighting fires, would have affected the natural environment. There is no superiority over the land, plants or animals they share space Many Indigenous peoples believe that human beings are part of an interconnected environment. For centuries Indigenous peoples lived off the land causing little to no destruction.
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