Ballinger V. Pinchot Controversy

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America’s federal forest management dates back to the mid 1870’s when Congress decided to create the U.S. Department of Agriculture to maintain the forestry. This environmental department represented the growth in America’s industry and the depletion of forests. Yet, as it was defeating the initial purpose, more natural resources were being lost from their area and the government had not acknowledged the damage. The conservationist Gifford Pinchot, created an impact on society by taking a stand to conserve the natural resources by leading the United States Forest service, embracing scientific forest, and contributed to Roosevelt’s decision to protect wildlife, thus paving the way for natural conservation in the future.
Prior to the forest industry, no Americans had an interest in the environment …show more content…

Many conservationists feared the President Taft would reopen the closed forest reserves to the public again for the sake of profit (Ballinger-Pinchot Scandal Erupts). The administration's apathy toward conservation ignited a public dispute between Pinchot and Department of the Interior secretary, Richard Achilles Ballinger. This feud, known as the Ballinger V.S. Pinchot controversy, escalated and ultimately resulted in Pinchot's dismissal from the Forest Service in 1909. This was a major cause of the splinter in the Republican Party that divided Taft and Roosevelt and led to the formation of the Progressive Party, with Roosevelt as its 1912 presidential candidate (Wilderness.net - Gifford Pinchot). Despite the fact that Pinchot had stayed on as chief forester in the Taft administration, he began to criticize openly both Ballinger and Taft, claiming they were violating the fundamental principles of both conservation and democracy. With opposing point of views, Taft immediately fired Pinchot causing a stir in the media and created a scandal (Ballinger-Pinchot

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