<P> Twenty - First Century Resource Protection </P> <P> The increased consumption of many natural resources has sparked the need for protection . Many of these resources were barely touched less than half a century ago but have been drained in several situations . One of these resources, water, is key to survival of almost all life but is being used quicker than it is replenished in many states within the United States . This has created the need for greater conservation which has been met by new techniques and technologies for both reducing the amount of water being used and increasing how efficiently it is being used . Some of these methods are as simple as replacing the fixtures in government buildings and offering rebates to citizens, but are as complex as growing genetically engineered food crops so that farmers can consume less water for use on them . Another key resource that has been met with new legislation is the land that is used to grow the crops for farms . One fairly new United States government policy, the Farmland Protection Policy Act, is designed in order to protect this resource from being over consumed by the government . It does this by ensuring that any entity, both federal and non-federal, that uses government assistance such as acquiring or disposing of land, providing financing or loans, managing property, providing technical assistance, cannot convert agricultural land into land that is permanently used for other purposes if it can be avoided . If the overuse of these resources is not mediated, the eventual result would create the loss of another key resource for survival . That is, if either land for agriculture or water for the land and the people who inhabit it becomes insufficient, the population in the United States would begin to run out of food . Not only would cash crops of plants become insufficient to supply people, it would also become insufficient to feed the livestock and animals that also depend on plants that are grown on agricultural land . Because of this, the need for conservation is greater than ever, especially when current efforts have only been able to slow the gradual depletion of these two key resources while increased populations create the need for higher consumption . </P> <P> The goal of ecotourism is to attract appreciation and attention to specific sites, which may include protected land for conservation, while minimizing the impact that tourism has on the land . It is a form of conservation because the area may be protected while tourists or businesses are also using the land for lodging or other types of accommodations that utilize resources in any way . This movement has gained international traction and recognition . The United Nations declared 2002 the International Year of Ecotourism . Ecotourism seeks to balance an interest and appreciation of protected lands with a commitment to preserving them . A study conducted by the University of Georgia reported that environmentalists should team up with ecotourists in order to have the best chance to preserve fragile ecosystems and lands . Tourism provides economic incentives to conserve lands, for if protected lands are seen as revenue - generating tourist destinations, there is monetary reason to ensure their conservation . Also, rather than simply relying on environmental messaging, ecotourism allows conservationists to pursue a leisurely and economic message . </P> <P> At a 2014 event held at UCLA centered upon environmental figures like John Muir, a few historians and writers noted that the movements for conservation and preservation of the environment maintained a foundation in "economic privilege and abundant leisure time of the upper class ." Jon Christensen, a historian of UCLA's Institute of Environment and Sustainability, notes among the other critics at the event that writings and actions from conservationists at the turn of the twentieth century have created a legacy for the movement as one of an older white demographic . </P>

What measures should be taken to conserve america's natural resources