The Fight for Conservation

Coal left underground, fertile soil carried away by rivers, and public land held for private profit supply Gifford Pinchot with evidence of costly waste. In The Fight for Conservation, he connects the care of natural resources with the future prosperity of the United States. The collection brings together material from magazine articles and addresses to conservation meetings, with chapters on farming, waterways, business, public spirit, and children.

Pinchot treats conservation as a matter of fairness as well as supply. His discussion of the moral issue argues that coal, forests, soils, and water power should benefit the whole population, with public control limiting private monopoly. He distinguishes resources that cannot be replaced from those that careful management can maintain. For readers interested in environmental policy and economic history, these essays show how conserving land and fuel became an argument about homes, opportunity, and obligations to later generations.