CONSERVATION EDUCATION: CRUCIBLE FOR ATTITUDE DEVELOPMENT

E. EUGENE IRISH Lecturer in Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor’, Mich. The most casual inquiry into the field of conservation reveals the complexity of the problems involved and the diversity of opinions that are held. In fact, since its inception, the conservation movement has fairly bristled with "issues.77 Even those who might be termed "conservationists77 have found controversies arising within their own ranks. Hammar suggests that "Much obvious confusion in the field of ’conservation is apparent because the conservationists have been unable to state clearly when a restrictive and when an expansionist or developmental policy should be followed/71 Hammar is probably justified in his appraisal. But it should be pointed out that the confusion to which he refers stems largely from the social implications of some of the major issues of conservation. Perhaps part of the difficulty lies in the fact that in the past conservationists have not outlined objectives specific enough in nature to permit attainment. Neither have they agreed upon criteria or definitions of conservation in terms of specific resources. Ostrolenk says "... this is a difficult subject because there is no clear concept of what is meant by ^conservation7 and by ^natural resources7.772 Bunce conveys the same idea when he states that, "It appears impossible to define conservation in such a manner that it will apply with equal validity to all resources, unless it is done in such broad terms as to become practically meaningless. For this reason the use of specific definitions related to clearly defined cases seems desirable.773 Zimmermann further substantiates the contention in the statement that, "Even if conservation is applied solely to natural resources such as water, soil, minerals, etc., it does not call for a single set of rules but for several, carefully adapted to the peculiar nature and requirements of the different types of resources.774 In light of the foregoing the schools may well ask, "What are we to teach about conservation?77 or "If the conservationists themselves are not clear on some of these issues how can they expect us to be?77 Certainly a subject should not be excluded from the curriculum simply because of its controversial nature, although the distinguished Judd implied this in many of his writings. He ventured the opinion