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Although the Yellowstone fires devastated the park ecosystem, the drastic disturbance was actually beneficial in other ways. The fire thinned the canopy and thereby allowed light to reach shrubs, saplings, and grasses. Furthermore, ash enriched the…

A crown fire consumes the Yellowstone canopy in September 1988. Within the park, fires damaged around 739,880 acres - that is, 36% of the park's total land.

A bison crosses a road to escape the smoke and flames of the infamous "Summer of Fire" in Yellowstone National Park, when 51 different fires ravaged the grasslands, understory, and forest canopy. Yet there were wildlife casualties as well: an…

Hundreds of cars line up for gas amidst growing fears of energy shortage and national insecurity in 1979

In 1979, Iranian revolutionaries, led by religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, overthrew Western backed Shah Pahlavi. As a result, oil production in Iran dropped, triggering an economic shock known as the 1979 Energy Crisis.

At a faculty meeting on May 3rd, 1965 Middlebury College faculty approved the establishment of the Environmental Studies major. The major program was developed by Professor Andrews and the Educational Policy Committee, and first proposed at a faculty…

Spearheaded by Howard Woodin, the Environmental Studies Major first becomes available in the 1965-1966 course catalog. Choosing an focus in human ecology, ecology, or biology, students could now receive one of the first Environmental Studies major…

On Nov. 1, 1964, the Boston Sunday Globe published an article discussing a political shift in the state of Vermont towards the Democratic Party. Phil Hoff held office from 1963 to 1969 and was the first Democrat to be elected Governor of Vermont in…

By the mid 1960s, the United States had demonstrated its capacity to transform environments on a large scale, anywhere it the world. Above ground nuclear weapons testing irradiated parts of the American West and the Pacific, sickening many over the…