A history of aesthetic conservation in California

Abstract

In spite of early indifference to the scenic qualities of California and the exploitative attitude of the gold miners, lumbermen and other settlers, the state's landscape played a central and symbolic role in the emergence of the conservation movement in the second half of the nineteenth century. This paradox was largely due to the fortuitous fact that California, containing what was later described as some of the finest scenery in the world, was opened up at the height of the nature-oriented Romantic Movement centered in the eastern states. This paper explores the events and circumstances which have contributed to the present-day, broadly based concern for environmental quality in California. The establishment of Yosemite Valley as a preserved landscape in 1864 initiated, and gave focus to, the conservation movement in the United States. In California, its supporters included wealthy outdoorsmen who gave their time and money to the cause, scientists and university intellectuals who defined the objectives, and impassioned naturalists such as John Muir who provided an emotional framework. The designation of national parks in California and elsewhere, and ultimately an appropriate agency to administer them, was a major achievement of the movement. A leader in the campaign was the Sierra Club of California, founded in 1892. Its goals included the protection of the environmental quality and natural resources of the state. In the nineteen-twenties, increased population together with improved transportation, especially the automobile, contributed to a widespread popularity of outdoor recreation and a demand for more places to enjoy it. State and regional parks were established in mountain and coastal areas of California to satisfy the demand and at the same time take pressure off the national parks. The high quality and success of the California State Park system was largely due to the abundant scenic resources available and the public's willingness to pay for it. The post-war years brought unprecedented growth and increasing conflict of interest between short-term economics, the immediate demands of society and the longer-term, less definable values of resource conservation. In the nineteen-sixties and -seventies a series of controversial cases attracted widespread public attention, resulting in a greater awareness and vigilance on the part of the electorate. Several important battles have been won and some important conservation oriented legislation has been passed. Several related commissions and agencies have been established. The result is that California has become a testing ground for systems of controlling the impact of change on the environment, including scenic quality and the resolution of environmental conflicts.