Ideas of conservation and preservation play central roles in ethical discussions of science and technology, especially in relation to nature and the environment. The terms also figure prominently in museum and historical work, where programs of conservation (not losing) and preservation (protecting from deterioration) are associated with specialized sciences and technologies. With regard to environmental issues, the concepts appear more closely related, both implying respect for nature.

John Muir Versus Gifford Pinchot

Since the early-twentieth-century break between Gifford Pinchot (1865–1946), first director of the U.S. Forest Service, and John Muir (1838–1914), founder of the Sierra Club, conservation and preservation have sometimes served as technical concepts with different connotations. In this context, conservation signals rational human use, preservation a protection from human use.

Although originally allies in creating Yellowstone, the first national park, in 1872, Pinchot and Muir took opposed positions in the debate, which lasted from...