Conservation and Preservation

CheckPoint: Conservation and Preservation

Both conservation and preservation activities are currently part of all national forest management programs. The Bridger Teton video discusses one controversy between those who want to harvest the resources of one section of the forest in an environmentally friendly way (conservation) and others who believe it should be left in its original state (preservation).

         View the Ch. 2 Bridger Teton VLR located under the Week Two Materials section of your student Web page.

         Post a 200- to 300-word response to the following:

o    Provide a brief summary differentiating conservation and preservation.

o    Do you believe humans can harvest forest resources in an environmentally friendly way, or, should national forests be left in their natural state in which resources are not used to benefit humans?

o    To which side are you inclined?

o    Provide specific examples from the Bridger Teton video as you defend your position.

Conservation is defined as the effort to limit human use on natural environments while preservation wishes to eliminate human use altogether. I think humans can learn to harvest resources in an environmentally friendly way. We are meant to live in harmony with our environment. That does not necessarily mean we can not touch or use the plants and animals around us. This means we need to be conservative on the damage we do and not abuse the world we have. I believe we should, as higher intellectual beings, use every precaution to save our environment and look for alternative ways to get the things we need to survive. This culture has become very materialistic, always looking to get more than the next guy. This has caused us to be abusive in our quest for more. We need to step back and see the damage we are leaving in our wake in our quest and learn to be more conservative, more thankful for what we already have. I do not think our situation is so dire as to cut off using all natural resources but we definitely need to conserve.

Unfortunately I was unable to hear the video due to complications with my computer so I am unable to provide specific examples from the video.