Assignment I: Assess the writings Pinchot, Muir and Leopold. Also consider the article by Owen Gifford Pinchot: “The Conservation of Natural Resources” John Muir: “Our National Parks” Aldo Leopold:...

Let us start by summarising the articles by Gifford Pinchot, John Muir and Aldo Leopold.
So, Gifford Pinchot, in his article “The Conservation of Natural Resources” speaks mainly about deforestation and conservation. He states that the conservation of natural resources is an essential step that we should take, without any further delay, for the betterment of the generations that are yet to come. Pinchot studies that coal has been tagged as a resource that is inexhaustible in the United States. Which is entirely false. If the supplies of coal remains constant, as it is now, then it is estimated that the coal supplies will last for no more then fifty to one hundred years. Pinchot also discusses how many fields of iron ore has already been exhausted and that coke by-products, that are worth millions of dollars, gets wasted every year. Pinchot also points out how soil erosion that is unrestricted has turned out to be a curse in the Mississippi river. Data also shows that Mississippi river, alone, transports more then four hundred million tons of sediment every year.
Second on our list, we have the tenth chapter of an article named “Our National Parks” by John Muir. There, Muir speaks about deforestation problems and misuse of land resources. Years after years of cutting down trees and exploiting the forest have turned the forests of America bald. Now people are worried about the environment change and are crying out, “Save what is left of the forest.” One important thing that Muir brings under our notice is the misuse of timber. There...