1634

Boston Common is created as a place for Bostonians to graze their livestock.

1840s

Vermont Congressman George Perkins Marsh warns of the destructive impact of human activity on the land, and advocates a conservationist approach to forest management.

1849

The U.S. Department of the Interior is established.

1854

Henry David Thoreau's "Walden, or Life in the Woods" is published.

1858

New York City's Central Park is designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.

1864

George Perkins Marsh publishes "Man and Nature."

Congress passes a bill granting Yosemite Valley to the State of California as a public park.

 

1865

Frederick Law Olmsted develops Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

1866

German biologist Ernst Haeckel coins the word "ecology."

1872

Congress establishes Yellowstone National Park.

Nebraska observes "Tree-Planting Day" on April 10. By 1907, Arbor Day is celebrated nationwide.

1875

Congress bans the unauthorized cutting or injury of trees on government property.

1878

Frederick Law Olmsted begins work on Boston's "Emerald Necklace," a series of public parks around the city. The Boston Public Garden is the first public botanical garden in the country.

1879

Congress establishes the U.S. Geological Survey as a bureau of the Department of the Interior.

1885

The state of New York establishes the Adirondack Forest Preserve and the Niagra Falls Reservation.

1890

Congress establishes three national parks in California (Sequoia, Yosemite and General Grant National Parks) in less than a week.

1891

Congress passes the Forest Reserve Act, creating the legislative foundation for what will become the National Forest system.

1893

President Benjamin Harrison sets aside 13 million acres of forest reserves.

1892

The Sierra Club is founded on June 4, with John Muir as the organization's first president.

1896

The Massachusetts Audubon Society is founded. By the end of the following year there are Audubon Societies in ten states and the District of Columbia.

1905

Control of the national forest system is transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

The National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals is founded in New York, officially uniting the numerous state groups which have sprung up since 1896, and establishing a strong national voice for conservation. The organization's name was changed to the National Audubon Society in 1940.

 

1905-1907

President Theodore Rossevelt sets aside more than 180 million acres of land for wildlife refuges and national parks.

1907

Organized opposition to U.S. conservation policy arises. At the Denver Public Lands Convention, Western ranching and mining interests call for cession of public lands to the states and restriction of national forests.

1916

The National Park Service is founded as a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Stephen T. Mather is its first director.

1917

Dutch Elm Disease is first detected in Holland.

1919

The National Parks Association (renamed the National Parks and Conservation Association in 1970) is founded.

1930

Dutch Elm Disease is first spotted in Cleveland.

late 1940s

After World War II, Americans flock to the suburbs, accelerating deforestation around cities.

1950s and 60s

Dutch elm disease devastates America's urban forests. Thousands of tree-lined streets are completely clear-cut, and the population of American Elm trees is virtually wiped out.

1970

The first Earth Day is celebrated on April 22.

1980s

The Reagan administration cuts funds for urban forestry and other ecology programs.

1990

Congress passes the Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Act, which expands funds for urban forestry twentyfold, and establishes a network of federal and state organizations dedicated to urban and community forestry.

1993

The Alliance for Community Trees is formed, uniting the dozens of local urban forestry groups that have sprung up across the country.

1996

The Asian long-horned beetle is detected in Brooklyn in August, and in Amityville one month later. More than 500 trees are removed in six months in an effort to one of the biggest threats to America's urban forests since Dutch Elm Disease.

Based in part on The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920, National Digital Library, Library of Congress.