3871 entries. Last updated May 18, 2013.

The Philosophical Justification for Public Preservation of Great Natural Scenery (1865)

American journalist, landscape architect and planner Frederick Law Olmsted submitted a "Preliminary Report upon the Yosemite and Big Tree Grove" to the Commissioners of California's new Yosemite park. This was the first work to establish the philosophical justification for public preservation of great natural scenery on the basis of its unique capacity to enhance human psychological, physical, and social health.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amrvhtml/cnchron1.html