During the 1700's the Chesapeake Bay Region became heavily settled by Europeans. Before their arrival, 95% of the region was covered in forest growth but by 1775 this growth had dropped down to 70%. The main cause of this deforestation was due to the introduction of the plow. There was also ecosystem consequences such as extinction of beavers because they were heavily sought out by traders for their fur.
Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump is a historic site that was used by indigenous people of the plains region, specifically the Blackfoot. The Blackfoot would drive herds of buffalo from a nearby grazing area 2 miles away over nearby cliffs in one of their most successful forms of hunting. The tribe had "runners" who, dressed as wolves and coyotes, would chase and direct large buffalo herds towards a geographic trap. The cliff(s) are not extraordinarily deep, but the weight and force of the entire herd falling on its own members was enough to guarantee injury to many of the buffalo in the herd. These injured buffalo would collect at the bottom of the cliffs where they would be dressed and consumed by the Blackfoot. The site gets its name from a young Indian brave who wanted to watch his people successfully hunt from a different perspective. The boy put his back to the cliffs and, covered by a small rock ledge, was able to witness scores of buffalo driven from the cliffs above him fall like rain in front of him, from the perspective of someone hiding behind a waterfall looking out through the water. This hunt was unusually successful and bodies of buffalo continued to pile atop of one another until the boy was pinned between rock and beast. The young Indian brave was not discovered until enough of the buffalo were butchered to reveal the brave's body and his crushed head. The site is significant because it serves as a constant reminder of environmental history when buffalo were unbelievably abundant and dominated the western side of our nation, specifically in the Plains and Midwest region. The site reminds us of a time when nature flourished before American Indians and eastern game hunters decimated the buffalo population. The site was designated as a National Historic Site in 1968 as well as a World Heritage Site in 1981. The site and its exhibit/museum attachment have attracted over 2.5 million visitors from around the globe since its "opening" in 1987. The site is additionally significant to environmental history because the site was utilized for hundreds upon hundreds of years before the introduction of horses and firearms, which ultimately were a death sentence to the buffalo in the Midwest. (Not sure what is going on with the date range but the time frame was 5800B.C. - 1850 A.D.)
Beaver Lake started off as a natural landing spot for many animals during their migration periods. Additionally, the land surrounding the lake was used for growing tobacco, potatoes and corn. Cows often grazed the land and other animal life was very obviously present. In the 1920s hunting was permitted on this land, this changed in 1963 when Onondaga County acquired all but 10 acres of the property in attempt to protect and preserve it along with the species within. The lake is currently a popular hiking spot in Central New York with 9 miles of trails, there are also informational programs for kids as well as adults who want to learn the history of the lake.
John Tyson and his family moved to Arkansas during the Great Depression with the goal of finding better economic opportunities. Food rationing brought about by WWII had seriously increased the demand for certain products, one of which was poultry, Tyson saw this opportunity and began raising chicks and as well as selling chickens and feed to local farmers. Over the following decades Tyson would expand his business and it quickly grew into one of the world's largest producers of a variety of different types of meats. Despite the economic success of Tyson Foods Inc. a variety of scandals involving animal welfare and environmental degradation have plagued the business. There have been a handful of lawsuits involving water and air pollution, and Tyson is currently the global food industry's second largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, making it one of the worlds worst greenhouse gas emitters.
Since 2010, when 32 million pounds (according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) of toxic waste was discharged into the Ohio River, pollution has only increased. These chemicals have contaminated drinking water and have been absorbed by the fish being consumed. This mainly began in the 1750s during the industrial revolution which we mentioned in class. As the years progressed; acid mine drains, raw sewage waste, and toxins with nitrate compounds have been dumped and found in the Ohio River. More limits on pollutants are being bent and broken by industries along the river which are owned by big corporations like Shell. Now species of fish and mussels are gradually going extinct due to the poor river quality. Now major efforts are needed to save the river and its inhabitants rather than the poor past attempts and corruption going on within the industries.
The dust bowl can be described as severe dust storms from farmers lacking ecological understanding of the way the grasslands worked. The result was 100,000,000 acres of grassland topsoil turning into dust from excessive deep plowing and over farming. Very reminiscent of the readings from Wednesday as this is a good example why capitalist efficiency and growth is not always an improvement to the land and the peoples wellbeing. This unregulated growth without any semblance of sustainability compares it self really well with production of meats in how waste of massive industry was not yet a component in consideration when expanding growing industries from the boom of new available technologies.
In the 1640s, a group of businesspeople received permission from the city of Boston to build a dam across a cove on the northern end of the peninsula (across from Charlestown). So, it can use the tide to power the flour mill. This then created Mill Pond. Unfortunately, the mills weren't very productive and were sold off by the 18th century. In turn, the new owners decided to close the floodgates resulting in a reduced flow. This allowed garbage and dead animals to pile up in the waterway. After this, the owners began asking the town for the right to fill it in. Finally In 1807 permission was granted which began the process of filling in Mill Pond now known as the Bulfinch Triangle. Once this was completed it added around 50 acres of land to the Boston area by 1826 creating the Boston we know today.
In the early 1990s, Mr. Murphy adapted his already successful hog farming enterprise, Murphy Family Farms, to a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) model. Being one of the first farmers to do so, his hog-fattening technique set a nation-wide standard, with the number of hogs per farm increasing by 60% across the United States from 1989-1994. Murphy Family Farms worked to perfect hog raising, and by the late 1990s the farming operation was more efficient than any in the country. They produced 22 piglets per sow annually— compared to the national average of 15— and they were able to feed their pigs substantially less than other farms while obtaining the same amount of fat.
Started by a Mr. Wesley Sawyer, then bought by Walter Golden in the 1940s. This was the last working dairy farm in Stamford, CT. In the 1940s, there were about 4 or 5 left, but when the 90s hit, Golden's was the last one standing. When settlers first arrived in the area, they built farms around the seashore and along rivers. But as land became valuable, they continued to cut down forests. Then the farmland was seen as too valuable to not be converted into real estate and less and less of the area was dedicated to farming. Golden began farming poultry and eggs as they became more popular than dairy farms at the time, and continued work on his farm until retirement, selling his eggs to smaller grocery stores and from his own home.
This photo highlights the extreme conditions that corn can tolerate, which is one of the many reasons that it became a staple in American agriculture and food. In a place called the "Canyon of Death" it is impressive that anything is able to survive the harsh climate.
The first settlers arrive in Bennington, the first Vermont town west of the Green Mountains. By 1765 1500 people lived in the town, each house feeding it self from its own lands and herds. Primary harvests were of Corn, Maple Sugar, Wheat and Dairy products. They also built a dam at Benton Pond to provide power for several mills, potteries and furnaces, being built along the Walloomsac river. Over by the 1800s Bennington had become a local political and economic power making use of the country side to prosper. (Pictured Maple Sugar being collected by horse drawn sledge)
As Steinberg mentions, this event took place when animal waste flowed out of the animal farm/feedlot into the New River in North Carolina. This event wreaked havoc on the river. Not only did it hurt the river but the waste disrupted and killed many fish populations as well as eventually making its way to the ocean. This one instance of waste overflow speaks to a much larger environmental issues of the meat industry which is water pollution.
The Industry for meat within America had been growing at a substantial rate ever since the first livestock arrived with European settlers. As population exponentially grew, so did the need for more livestock to support the new masses of people. The major issue that stood in the way was shipping the meat without it going bad. Previous methods were successful, but none more successful and impactful than the refrigerator. The first refrigeration system used in the meat packing industry was in Chicago during the year 1900. Within fifteen years, every meat packing company had refrigerators. This invention provided the ability to store meat safely for much longer which gave the packing companies security if they overhauled production to much. Unfortunately, it did not and the horrifying 1900's Chicago meat packing industry took off. This required more trains, more livestock, more workers, more fossil fuels, and more chemicals. All of these factors lead to significant environmental damage of water, the soil, and the atmosphere.
The Blackstone Canal, constructed in 1828, connected Worcester to Providence along the Blackstone River and allowed for faster and cheaper transportation of goods between the two cities. This canal opened up a wide range of industrial opportunities for Worcester, making it a crossroads city with access to more distant trade markets. In 1835, soon after the canal was built, railroads connecting Worcester and Boston were constructed to further improve trade routes and allow for more rapid industrial expansion in Worcester.