History of the American Environmental Movement

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Activist and environmentalist Julia Butterfly Hill climbs into a 180-foot-tall California Coast Redwood Tree.

Dec 9, 1997 to Dec 17, 1999

Hill spent 738 days living in the 600-year-old tree, nicknamed Luna, in order to prevent loggers of the Pacific Lumber Company from cutting it down. A resolution was finally reached in 1999 when t...

California State Water Resources Control Board issues an order to protect Mono Lake and its tributary streams.

Sep 27, 1994

Mono Lake is an alkaline and hypersaline lake in California, United States that is a critical nesting habitat for several bird species and is an unusually productive ecosystem.

The Exxon Valdez oil tanker hits Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spills an estimated 10.8 million US gallons (38 megalitres) of crude oil.

Mar 23, 1989

The disaster has been recorded as one of the largest spills in U.S. history and one of the largest ecological disasters in the world.

Congress passes the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

1979

The law provides for the creation or revision of 15 National Park Service properties, and sets aside other public lands for the United States Forest Service and United States Fish and Wildlife Serv...

The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the 1973 Endangered Species Act and stops construction of the Tellico Dam.

Jun 14, 1977

In 1975, Law professor Zygmunt Plater and student Hiram Hill filed the first petition under the Endangered Species Act. They called on the Department of the Interior to list the snail darter as an ...

Congress establishes the Endangered Species Act.

Dec 27, 1973

The stated purpose of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is to protect species and also "the ecosystems upon which they depend." The ESA is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fis...

President Nixon establishes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Dec 1, 1970

The EPA is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and with safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land. It is mainly responsibl...

Earth Day founded by U.S. politician Gaylord Nelson.

Apr 21, 1970

The Clean Air Act Extension is passed.

1969

The law requires the EPA to develop and enforce regulations to protect the general public from exposure to airborne contaminants that are known to be hazardous to human health. This law is an amend...

Grand Canyon Dam plan killed.

1967

The Sierra Club publishes full-page newspaper ads in the New York Times and Washington Post against building a dam that would flood the Grand Canyon.

May 1966

The next day, the IRS hand-delivers a suspension of the Club's tax-exempt status. The action boosts the Club's prestige and membership and eventually helps in the fight to save the Canyon.