The act of demarcating and enclosing a specific area of land for the sole purpose of maintaining its ecological functions intact and away from the possibility of development. In setting apart a certain area, no matter the size, it is set on a different ecological trajectory through the societal action of legislature. “To choose one place and not another alters the evolutionary path of human and nonhuman communities along the way. This means that conservation areas form artifacts of the past, present, and future.” (Waklid) Conservation is meant to protect flora and fauna and the natural resources that they hinge on such as soils, hydrology for the enjoyment of future generations. Emerging out of the United States at the turn of the 20th century, the conservation movement was a reaction to the massive industrialization, rapid urbanization, and large-scale destruction of landscapes. Gifford Pinchot, Chief Forester for Theodore Roosevelt’s administration, encouraged the responsible management of landscapes as an aspect of long-term national security concerns and material sustainability efforts. Conservation lands and strategies are also an intrinsic part of capitalism and how land ownership is determined through the assigning of economic utility and value to landscapes.