SOURCE: Bliese, John R. E. “Richard M. Weaver, Russell Kirk, and the Environment.” Modern Age 38, no. 2 (winter 1996): 148-58.

In the following essay, Bliese depicts Kirk as a conservationist and compares him with other conservative figures for whom care for the environment figures prominently, such as Richard M. Weaver and Wendell Berry.

Over the last thirty years or so, environmental and natural resource issues have been prominent in our public policy debates. During that time, many of these problems have become ever more compelling. We now realize that by our actions we are able not only to pollute our neighborhoods, but also to affect adversely the ecology of the entire planet.

Yet conservatives have largely ignored environmental issues. When conservative politicians and writers have taken part in the public debates, it has usually been merely to oppose measures to reduce pollution and to oppose protecting our natural resources. This...