Today, the U.S. celebrates Presidents Day, a day to commemorate the leadership and legacy of the so-far only men who have governed the country since its founding. Here at EcoWatch, we think some of the most amazing things about the U.S. are its unique and beautiful landscapes and wildlife . So this Presidents Day, we would like to celebrate actions taken by past presidents to protect America’s environment. 1. Abraham Lincoln Protects Yosemite On June 30, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant Act, giving Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Big Tree Grove to the state of California. It marked the first time in U.S. history that the government set land aside specifically to protect it and preserve it for public enjoyment, according to POLITICO . “In its scope and in its avowed preservation purpose the Yosemite Valley undertaking was truly precedent-setting,” author Ney C. Landrum wrote in The State Park Movement in America: A Critical Review , according to The Smithsonian Magazine . “Not only were there no real state parks in 1864, there were no national parks , either. California’s experiment pioneered a new field of public land management and provided valuable lessons–positive as well as negative–for […]
5 Acts of Environmental Leadership to Celebrate This Presidents Day
Latest Articles from Happy Eco News
Six Portuguese youth file ‘unprecedented’ climate lawsuit against 33 countries
In the first climate case to be filed with the European Court of Human Rights, six Portuguese youth argue inadequate emissions cuts violate their...
E-Bikers Ride Much Farther and More Frequently Than Regular Bikers
Amriphoto/ Getty Images People used to complain that using an e-bike was "cheating," which I thought was dead and gone, writing a post two...
Energy Kites Are the Soaring Alternative to Windmills
Airborne wind energy systems are still experimental, capturing the wind where it's fastest After hydropower, wind is the second-biggest source of renewable electricity in...
