ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by tree huggers,

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environmentalists who crave human-to-plant contact.

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Here's the excerpt.

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[ mumbles ]

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[ mumbling continues ] Franklin Hough.

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And the question:

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The conservation movement, as expressed above, emerged

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at this time... why?

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And here are your potential answers.

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[ buzzer ]

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All right, well, what exactly was the conservation movement?

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We can see in the excerpt that folks were starting to worry

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about the degradation and destruction of forests,

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but, like, why?

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Well, let's see which answer can best explain the arrival of

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these nature-lovers.

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Did the conservation movement emerge at this time A -

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as an extension of corporate influence? [ scoffs ]

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Well, the people behind this conservation movement were

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wealthy sportsmen worried that their hunting territory would

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come under the control of big corporations.

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So these men created groups like the Sierra Club

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to strengthen their voice against corporate influence,

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hoping to protect their sacred hunting grounds which were

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ideally as far away from the railroads as possible.

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Meaning no more A or D.

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Maybe the conservation movement came about

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B - in order to fight for greater agricultural rights.

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Well, actually, this conservation was more about

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untouched nature preserves, not highly managed

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agricultural land. So let's throw out B, too.

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Which means that the conservation movement emerged

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C - as a way to preserve land that could

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fall out of public control.

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Remember those wealthy sportsmen?

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Well, they were super concerned about railroads and industries

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destroying public lands, so they pressured the government

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into establishing protected areas

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better known today as state parks.

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So C is the right answer. And it's a good thing these

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wealthy hunters aren't still lurking around state parks today,

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or tourism would be a lot more dangerous.

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[ horn honks ]

Full Transcript