Conservation Efforts
February 23, 2026 By: Clay Roper-Daniels
Dr. Norman Fennema
HIST 3991: Environmental History
Clay Roper-Daniels
Feb. 22, 2026
Exercise #3: Connecting Past and Present
This article caught my attention because of the sheer size of conservation effort that has been made. It explains that 45,000 hectares of forests in southeastern British Columbia has been purchased by the Nature Conservancy of Canada alongside other partners. This connects to the conservation movement of Unit 3 because of the growing concern of resource depletion by industrial forestry. Previous conservationists like Gifford Pinchot had a philosophy that forests should scientifically managed for human benefit, rather than being fully protected. However, this project entirely stops logging practices to protect wildlife and watersheds. Therefore, it takes on a more progressive approach of conservation that focuses on preservation.
https://sunpeaksnews.com/kamloops-couple-saves-grassland-habitat/
I wanted to choose an article that was a smaller scale of conservation compared to the first one. This article left a good impression on me because of the pure act of generosity between Phil and Arlene Theimer in protecting wildlife habitat. Together, they bought and donated Rattlesnake Bluff in Kamloops to prevent construction companies from extracting rocks with explosives. The ideas from John Muir in Unit 3 are comparable to the Theimer’s conservation efforts. John Muir believed that the wilderness should be preserved for ecological importance. This example demonstrates that anyone, even just a married couple, can make a huge difference in protecting biodiversity.