Are you into conservation? Like to see the history of conservatation awareness and activities in the US and particularly Texas?
Here they are, courtesy of the Texas Legacy Project. They are collecting videos and documents that capture the history and development of Texas and its relationship to conservation:
http://www.texaslegacy.org/m/index.html
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Some key Events in Conservation History in Texas:
| 1681 | International | Wildlife | Extinction of the Dodo, a flightless bird native to Mauritius, lost to meat hunting and destruction of its eggs by introduced rats, pigs and monkeys |
| 1729 | Texas | Water, Irrigation | San Antonio River first diverted for irrigation at Spanish missions |
| 1739 | United States | Pollution | In one of the first American environmental protests, Benjamin Franklin and other Philadelphia tradesmen petition the Assembly against slaughterhouse waste in Dock Creek |
| 1768 | International | Wildlife | Extinction of the Steller's Sea Cow, a marine mammal once found along the Pacific Rim, from Japan to California, lost to hunting for meat and hides |
| 1800 | International | Population | World human population rises to 1 billion |
| 1814 | United States of America | Science, Information | Completion of Alexander Wilson's work, American Ornithology |
| 1820 | Texas | Population | Texas population estimated to be 20,000 |
| 1832 | United States of America | Parks | Arkansas Hot Springs established as a national reservation, serving as a precedent for the protection of Yellowstone and the later creation of a national park system |
| 1835 | United States of America | Information, Literature | Ralph Waldo Emerson writes the essay, Nature, beginning an American tradition of Transcendentalism |
| 1836 | Texas | Population | Texas population gauged at roughly 50,000 |
| 1839 | International | Technology | Sir William Robert Grove invents the fuel cell, giving the promise of a relatively clean energy source |
| 1839 | United States of America | Science, Information, Art, Wildlife | John James Audubon's Birds of America is published |
| 1840 | Texas | Water, Legislation | The Republic of Texas turns from the Spanish and Mexican system of water appropriation, based on the concept of first-in-time, first-in-right for beneficial water uses, and adopts the English rule of riparian right where all owners of land adjacent to a s |
| 1846 | International | Technology | John Deere has a Pittsburgh company roll the country's first cast steel plow, leading to the efficient breaking of prairie sod |
| 1846 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | Ferdinand von Roemer notes it was punishable by fine to kill vultures in Texas, the first mention of wildlife protection in the state, possibly a county or common law provision |
| 1850 | United States of America | Wildlife | Introduction of the English Sparrow into Brooklynn, one of the first exotic species to be brought into the United States |
| 1852 | Texas | Water, Legislation | The State of Texas passes the Irrigation Act of 1852 which grants counties the authority to regulate dams and ditches, starting a Texas tradition of delegating water decisions to local governments |
| 1854 | International | Water, Public Health | Dr. John Snow identifies water from a contaminated London well as the cause of a local cholera outbreak |
| 1854 | United States of America | Information | Henry David Thoreau's Walden published |
| 1854 | United States of America | Information, Science | Completion of plates and text for the Vivipaous Quadrupeds of North America, by John James Audubon and John Bachman |
| 1854 | United States of America | Technology, Water | Daniel Halladay introduces the mechanical windmill, allowing the settling of the arid sections of the Midwest |
| 1855 | United States of America | Technology, Water Pollution | Chicago develops first comprehensive sewer plan in a major American city |
| 1856 | Texas | Water | Supreme Court of Texas recognizes a riparian system of water rights, allowing landowners adjacent to rivers to divert water |
| 1859 | United States of America | Energy, Technology | Edwin Drake strikes oil at Titusville, Pennsylvania ushering in the era of petroleum as a major energy source |
| 1860 | Texas | Population | Texas state population estimated to be 600,000 |
| 1860 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | Texas enacts its first formal game law, a local ordinance protecting quail and partridge for 2 years on Galveston Island |
| 1861 | Texas | Parks | Texas acquires ten acres of public property at San Jacinto to commemorate the Texas revolution's decisive battle, designated in 1897 as a park |
| 1864 | United States of America | Information | Publication of Man and Nature: the Earth as Modified by Human Action, by George Perkins Marsh |
| 1864 | United States of America | Parks | President Lincoln signs a bill granting Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove to the State of California as an inalienable public trust, the first protection of lands for scenic value |
| 1866 | International | Information, Science | German biologist Ernst Haeckel coins the term, ecology |
| 1866 | United States of America | Legislation | Passage of the Mining Act in the U.S., subsidizing resource extraction |
| 1866 | United States of America | Non-Profit Groups | American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals founded |
| 1868 | International | Technology, Forests | John Casson introduces the continuous feed circular saw, greatly accelerating the ability to process logs into planks |
| 1870 | United States of America | Non-Profit Groups, Wildlife, Science | Organization of the American Fisheries Society |
| 1871 | United States of America | Information | John Burroughs' Wake Robin is published |
| 1872 | International | Information | Global research voyage of the HMS Challenger |
| 1872 | United States of America | Parks | Setting aside of Yellowstone as the first official US national park |
| 1873 | International | Technology | Joseph Glidden invents barbed wire, enabling continuous high-stocking-rate grazing |
| 1874 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | Texas enacts its first trespass statute, protecting enclosed lands from trespass by "shooting, hunting, fishing or fowling" |
| 1874 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | Texas enacts regulations restricting coastal seining and netting |
| 1876 | Texas | Water | Irrigation for farming in the Lower Rio Grande Valley begins on a small scale |
| 1876 | United States of America | Non-Profit Groups | Organization of the Appalachian Mountain Club |
| 1879 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | First state-wide Texas game law is passed, protecting songbirds and established a season for dove and quail hunting |
| 1879 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | Texas creates the Office of Fish Commissioner, charging it with the duties of preserving fish and building fish ladders |
| 1879 | United States of America | Science, Legislation, Agencies | US Geological Survey formed |
| 1880 | Texas | Population | Texas population estimated to be 1,500,000 |
| 1881 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | Texas creates a 5-month closed season for prairie chickens and a 3 1/2 month closed season for turkey |
| 1881 | United States of America | Air Pollution, Legislation | Chicago becomes the first American City to enact an ordinance controlling smoke discharges |
| 1882 | United States of America | Agriculture | Massachusetts passes first pure food laws |
| 1882 | United States of America | Technology, Energy | Construction of world's first hydroelectric power plant, sited in Appleton, Wisconsin |
| 1883 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | Texas Legislature exempts over half the state (130 counties) from all fish and game laws |
| 1883 | United States of America | Wildlife, Non-Profit Groups, Science | Formation of the American Ornithology Union |
| 1885 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | Texas Legislature abolishes Office of Fish Commissioner in climate of falling farm commodity prices, and conservation apathy |
| 1888 | United States of America | Wildlife, Non-Profit Groups | Society for the Introduction of European Songbirds of Portland, Oregon introduces 35 pair of Starlings |
| 1889 | Texas | Water, Legislation | Texas passes the Irrigation Act, replacing riparian rights with the prior appropriation system ("first in time, first in right") when diverting water from rivers |
| 1889 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | Frio County citizens petition Texas Legislature to place it under protection of state game laws, due in part to insect and rodent crop damage |
| 1890 | Texas | Forests, Non-Profit Groups | Texas Arbor Day and Forestry Association has initial meeting, seeking renewal of forests and diffusion of knowledge regarding woodlands |
| 1891 | Texas | Water | Rice production begins on a commercial scale in Jefferson County with delivery of irrigation water from pumps on Taylor's Bayou |
| 1891 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | Responding to millinery threat, Texas enacts protection for seagulls, egrets, herons and pelicans |
| 1891 | United States of America | Forests, Legislation | Congress passes the Forest Reserve Act, authorizing the President to create forest preserves, leading to the formation of the National Forest system |
| 1892 | International | Technology | Rudolf Diesel invents the internal combustion engine |
| 1892 | United States of America | Non-Profit Groups | Sierra Club founded |
| 1893 | Texas | Parks | Texas authorizes funds for purchase of land at the Alamo site, Goliad, Refugio, and San Jacinto to commemorate critical battles in the Texas Revolution |
| 1893 | Texas | Water, Dams | Austin Dam, the first major dam on the Colorado River, is completed (destroyed in 1900 by floodwaters) |
| 1895 | Texas | Agencies | Texas Fish and Oyster Commission created to regulate fishing in the state |
| 1895 | United States of America | Information | Field & Stream magazine first published |
| 1896 | United States of America | Agencies | Initial funding of the Division of Biological Survey, the precursor of the US Fish and Wildlife Service |
| 1897 | Texas | Non-Profit Groups | Organization of the Texas Game Protective Association |
| 1897 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | Texas Legislature declares that some avian species are public property |
| 1897 | Texas | Wildlife, Legislation | 77 Texas counties claim exemption from state game laws, declining from 130 in 1883 |
| 1897 | United States of America | Agencies | Creation of the United States Forest Service |
| 1898 | Texas | Water, Navigation, Dredging, Canal | Railroad magnate Arthur Stilwell organizes dredging of a ship canal from Sabine Lake to Gulf Pass, providing ocean access for Port Arthur |
| 1899 | Texas | Non-Profit Groups | First Audubon group created in Texas, in Galveston |
| 1900 | Texas | Natural Hazards | A hurricane strikes Galveston, inundating the Island and killing 6000 to 12,000 |
| 1900 | United States of America | Wildlife | Wild bison population falls to less than 40 from an estimated 30-50 million a century earlier |
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