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Time and Events in Conservation History

Time Region Topic Event
1681 International Wildlife Extinction of the Dodo, a flightless bird native to Mauritius, lost to meat hunting and destruction of its eggs by introduced rats, pigs and monkeys
1729 Texas Water, Irrigation San Antonio River first diverted for irrigation at Spanish missions
1739 United States Pollution In one of the first American environmental protests, Benjamin Franklin and other Philadelphia tradesmen petition the Assembly against slaughterhouse waste in Dock Creek
1768 International Wildlife Extinction of the Steller's Sea Cow, a marine mammal once found along the Pacific Rim, from Japan to California, lost to hunting for meat and hides
1800 International Population World human population rises to 1 billion
1814 United States of America Science, Information Completion of Alexander Wilson's work, American Ornithology
1820 Texas Population Texas population estimated to be 20,000
1832 United States of America Parks Arkansas Hot Springs established as a national reservation, serving as a precedent for the protection of Yellowstone and the later creation of a national park system
1835 United States of America Information, Literature Ralph Waldo Emerson writes the essay, Nature, beginning an American tradition of Transcendentalism
1836 Texas Population Texas population gauged at roughly 50,000
1839 International Technology Sir William Robert Grove invents the fuel cell, giving the promise of a relatively clean energy source
1839 United States of America Science, Information, Art, Wildlife John James Audubon's Birds of America is published
1840 Texas Water, Legislation The Republic of Texas turns from the Spanish and Mexican system of water appropriation, based on the concept of first-in-time, first-in-right for beneficial water uses, and adopts the English rule of riparian right where all owners of land adjacent to a s
1846 International Technology John Deere has a Pittsburgh company roll the country's first cast steel plow, leading to the efficient breaking of prairie sod
1846 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Ferdinand von Roemer notes it was punishable by fine to kill vultures in Texas, the first mention of wildlife protection in the state, possibly a county or common law provision
1850 United States of America Wildlife Introduction of the English Sparrow into Brooklynn, one of the first exotic species to be brought into the United States
1852 Texas Water, Legislation The State of Texas passes the Irrigation Act of 1852 which grants counties the authority to regulate dams and ditches, starting a Texas tradition of delegating water decisions to local governments
1854 International Water, Public Health Dr. John Snow identifies water from a contaminated London well as the cause of a local cholera outbreak
1854 United States of America Information Henry David Thoreau's Walden published
1854 United States of America Information, Science Completion of plates and text for the Vivipaous Quadrupeds of North America, by John James Audubon and John Bachman
1854 United States of America Technology, Water Daniel Halladay introduces the mechanical windmill, allowing the settling of the arid sections of the Midwest
1855 United States of America Technology, Water Pollution Chicago develops first comprehensive sewer plan in a major American city
1856 Texas Water Supreme Court of Texas recognizes a riparian system of water rights, allowing landowners adjacent to rivers to divert water
1859 United States of America Energy, Technology Edwin Drake strikes oil at Titusville, Pennsylvania ushering in the era of petroleum as a major energy source
1860 Texas Population Texas state population estimated to be 600,000
1860 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas enacts its first formal game law, a local ordinance protecting quail and partridge for 2 years on Galveston Island
1861 Texas Parks Texas acquires ten acres of public property at San Jacinto to commemorate the Texas revolution's decisive battle, designated in 1897 as a park
1864 United States of America Information Publication of Man and Nature: the Earth as Modified by Human Action, by George Perkins Marsh
1864 United States of America Parks President Lincoln signs a bill granting Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove to the State of California as an inalienable public trust, the first protection of lands for scenic value
1866 International Information, Science German biologist Ernst Haeckel coins the term, ecology
1866 United States of America Legislation Passage of the Mining Act in the U.S., subsidizing resource extraction
1866 United States of America Non-Profit Groups American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals founded
1868 International Technology, Forests John Casson introduces the continuous feed circular saw, greatly accelerating the ability to process logs into planks
1870 United States of America Non-Profit Groups, Wildlife, Science Organization of the American Fisheries Society
1871 United States of America Information John Burroughs' Wake Robin is published
1872 International Information Global research voyage of the HMS Challenger
1872 United States of America Parks Setting aside of Yellowstone as the first official US national park
1873 International Technology Joseph Glidden invents barbed wire, enabling continuous high-stocking-rate grazing
1874 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas enacts its first trespass statute, protecting enclosed lands from trespass by "shooting, hunting, fishing or fowling"
1874 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas enacts regulations restricting coastal seining and netting
1876 Texas Water Irrigation for farming in the Lower Rio Grande Valley begins on a small scale
1876 United States of America Non-Profit Groups Organization of the Appalachian Mountain Club
1879 Texas Wildlife, Legislation First state-wide Texas game law is passed, protecting songbirds and established a season for dove and quail hunting
1879 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas creates the Office of Fish Commissioner, charging it with the duties of preserving fish and building fish ladders
1879 United States of America Science, Legislation, Agencies US Geological Survey formed
1880 Texas Population Texas population estimated to be 1,500,000
1881 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas creates a 5-month closed season for prairie chickens and a 3 1/2 month closed season for turkey
1881 United States of America Air Pollution, Legislation Chicago becomes the first American City to enact an ordinance controlling smoke discharges
1882 United States of America Agriculture Massachusetts passes first pure food laws
1882 United States of America Technology, Energy Construction of world's first hydroelectric power plant, sited in Appleton, Wisconsin
1883 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas Legislature exempts over half the state (130 counties) from all fish and game laws
1883 United States of America Wildlife, Non-Profit Groups, Science Formation of the American Ornithology Union
1885 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas Legislature abolishes Office of Fish Commissioner in climate of falling farm commodity prices, and conservation apathy
1888 United States of America Wildlife, Non-Profit Groups Society for the Introduction of European Songbirds of Portland, Oregon introduces 35 pair of Starlings
1889 Texas Water, Legislation Texas passes the Irrigation Act, replacing riparian rights with the prior appropriation system ("first in time, first in right") when diverting water from rivers
1889 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Frio County citizens petition Texas Legislature to place it under protection of state game laws, due in part to insect and rodent crop damage
1890 Texas Forests, Non-Profit Groups Texas Arbor Day and Forestry Association has initial meeting, seeking renewal of forests and diffusion of knowledge regarding woodlands
1891 Texas Water Rice production begins on a commercial scale in Jefferson County with delivery of irrigation water from pumps on Taylor's Bayou
1891 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Responding to millinery threat, Texas enacts protection for seagulls, egrets, herons and pelicans
1891 United States of America Forests, Legislation Congress passes the Forest Reserve Act, authorizing the President to create forest preserves, leading to the formation of the National Forest system
1892 International Technology Rudolf Diesel invents the internal combustion engine
1892 United States of America Non-Profit Groups Sierra Club founded
1893 Texas Parks Texas authorizes funds for purchase of land at the Alamo site, Goliad, Refugio, and San Jacinto to commemorate critical battles in the Texas Revolution
1893 Texas Water, Dams Austin Dam, the first major dam on the Colorado River, is completed (destroyed in 1900 by floodwaters)
1895 Texas Agencies Texas Fish and Oyster Commission created to regulate fishing in the state
1895 United States of America Information Field & Stream magazine first published
1896 United States of America Agencies Initial funding of the Division of Biological Survey, the precursor of the US Fish and Wildlife Service
1897 Texas Non-Profit Groups Organization of the Texas Game Protective Association
1897 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas Legislature declares that some avian species are public property
1897 Texas Wildlife, Legislation 77 Texas counties claim exemption from state game laws, declining from 130 in 1883
1897 United States of America Agencies Creation of the United States Forest Service
1898 Texas Water, Navigation, Dredging, Canal Railroad magnate Arthur Stilwell organizes dredging of a ship canal from Sabine Lake to Gulf Pass, providing ocean access for Port Arthur
1899 Texas Non-Profit Groups First Audubon group created in Texas, in Galveston
1900 Texas Natural Hazards A hurricane strikes Galveston, inundating the Island and killing 6000 to 12,000
1900 United States of America Wildlife Wild bison population falls to less than 40 from an estimated 30-50 million a century earlier
1901 Texas Wildlife, Legislation State of Texas prohibits nighttime waterfowl hunting
1901 Texas, United States, International Energy Completion of the Spindletop oil well, tapping into a salt dome near Beaumont, and helping found Gulf Oil, Texaco, and the commercial petroleum industry
1902 United States of America Agencies The Bureau of Reclamation is established to construct dams and aqueducts in the arid West
1902 United States of America Technology Willis Carrier invents the first air conditioner, eventually helping enable the American move to the Sun Belt
1903 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas Legislature passes American Ornithological Union Model Law declaring all wildlife to be public property
1903 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas Legislature creates a 5-year closed season on antelope, mountain sheep, and deer, and sets bag limits on turkey, quail, and dove
1903 United States of America Parks President Roosevelt establishes first National Wildlife Refuge, a 5.5-acre bird breeding and roosting site at Pelican Island, Florida
1904 Texas Rulings, Water Texas Supreme Court adopts the rule of capture in Houston Texas & Central Railway Co. v. East, giving surface owner generally unlimited rights to withdraw groundwater under one's land, denying that such use can be restricted by a reasonableness standard
1904 Texas Water Large-scale irrigation begins in the Lower Rio Grande Valley as the arrival of the railroad allows cost-effective delivery of produce to markets
1904 Texas Water, Legislation, Dams Texas Constitutional amendment adopted, authorizing the first public development of water resources in the state
1905 Texas Forests Upon passage of a competitive bidding process in this year, only 31,978 acres of timber on public land remain out of an original 300,000 acres, much having already been distributed in an undervalued and/or fraudulent manner
1905 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas House establishes a Game and Fisheries Committee with jurisdiction over preservation and propagation of state game, and power to regulate fish and oyster industries
1905 United States of America Non-Profit Groups National Audubon Society founded
1905 United States of America Water Pollution, Technology US towns having populations exceeding 4000 have city sewers
1905 United States of America Wildlife Last wild specimen of the Badlands Bighorn Sheep killed at Magpie Creek, North Dakota, following a decline associated with hunting for hides and meat
1905 United States of America Wildlife US. Department of Agriculture publishes A Biological Survey of Texas, by Vernon Bailey
1906 United States of America Parks Passage of the Antiquities Act, permitting the President to set aside unique public lands for future generations as National Monuments
1906 United States of America Parks Devil's Tower, Wyoming, is protected as nation's first National Monument
1907 International Technology Leo Baekeland invents the first synthetic plastic, called Bakelite
1907 Texas Forests Texas timber yield peaks at 2.25 billion boardfeet of lumber
1907 Texas Legislation, Wildlife, Agencies A Game Department is added to the regulatory apparatus of the Texas Fish and Oyster Commission
1907 Texas Wildlife First Texas game wardens hired
1907 United States of America Forests, Pollution, Technology Scott Paper introduces Sani-Towels, the first disposable paper towel
1907 United States of America Wildlife Last example of the Arizona Wapiti, a type of elk, shot in the Chiricahua Mountains following a decline linked to hunting for sport and food
1908 International Air Pollution, Information, Science Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius calculates that carbon dioxide released in fossil fuel combustion will cause a greenhouse effect lifting average temperatures by 5 to 6 degrees Celsius
1908 International Technology Invention of bulldozer by Holt and Company
1908 Texas Non-Profit Groups Founding of the Texas Conservation Association
1908 United States of America Parks, Wildlife, Legislation At President Roosevelt's request, Congress authorizes first funds to buy lands for wildlife protection, resulting in creation of the National Bison Range in Montana
1909 Texas Forests, Non-Profit Groups Yellow Pine Manufacturers Association pledges to practice sound forestry techniques and to lobby for federal and state fire protection
1909 Texas Wildlife First requirement for Texas resident hunters to have a license
1909 United States of America Wildlife, Legislation Congress appropriates money for the USDA's Biological Survey Division to research ways to kill wolves, prairie dogs, and other animals injurious to agriculture
1910 Texas Non-Profit Groups Texas Conservation Association convenes its first meeting, with 200 state officials, lumbermen, and conservationists in attendance, and adopts proposals deploring waste of all natural resources, particularly foress, and recommending creation of a state f
1911 Texas Legislation, Forests Texas House creates a standing committee to investigate forestry legislation
1911 Texas Water Irrigation from wells near Plainview begins, likely the first such operation in the High Plains
1911 United States of America Legislation, Forests, Parks Congressional passage of the Weeks Act authorizes acquisition of lands on watersheds to protect stream navigability, enables US Department of Agriculture to cooperate with states in forest fire prevention (leading to establishment of numerous state forest
1913 Texas Legislation, Agencies, Water Texas Legislature creates the Board of Water Engineers to monitor and regulate water development
1913 Texas Legislation, Water Texas passes the General Irrigation Act of 1913, making it illegal to take water from a public stream without first having a permit from the Board of Water Engineers
1914 International Wildlife Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon, a species that had once numbered approximately 5 billion, but had been damaged beyond rebound by commercial meat hunting
1914 International Wildlife Death of last specimen of the Carolina Parakeet, whose decline was due to the millinery and captive bird trade
1914 Texas Non-Profit Groups, Forests Texas Forestry Association created with a charge to lobby for a state forestry agency
1914 Texas Water, Dredging, Canal, Technology Dredging of the 50-mile long Houston Ship Channel is completed and opened for navigation
1915 Texas Legislation, Agencies, Forests Texas Department of Forestry (renamed Texas Forest Service in 1926) established by the Legislature
1915 Texas Water, Estuary Texas City dike constructed, trapping nutrients and sediments and raising the salinity of Galveston's West Bay
1915 United States of America Wildlife, Legislation, Agencies Predator and Rodent Control agency created within USDA to carry out strychnine poisoning of wolves, foxes, coyotes, bears, mountain lions, eagles, and other animals on western public domain lands
1916 International Technology From 1908 to 1916, due to mass-production techniques, Ford Model T assembly times decline from 14 hours to 93 minutes and retail costs drop from $1000 to $360 , enabling the broad American public to begin buying cars and adopt an auto culture
1916 Texas Legislation, Water Texas Constitution amended to authorize creation of river authorities and water conservation districts to help rationalize administration of water use, and to augment bonding power for irrigation and flood control projects
1916 United States of America Dams The 36,500-acre, 227,000 acre-foot Elephant Butte Reservoir is completed on the Rio Grande near Truth or Consequences, in southwestern New Mexico
1916 United States of America Parks Creation of the National Park Service
1916 United States of America Population Margaret Sanger opens first birth control clinic
1917 Texas Legislation, Water Texas adopts the Texas Water Code, providing for termination of riparian water rights in cases where water was not put to a beneficial use within 3 years, and giving the Board of Water Engineers the power to adjudicate water rights and appoint water maste
1917 Texas Water, Wildlife, Legislation Conservation Amendment to the Texas Constitution is adopted, declaring that conservation of all natural resources of the state are public rights
1917 Texas, United States, International Energy Texas Railroad Commission given power to regulate oil pipelines as common carriers, like railroads, and empowered to prevent waste of oil and gas
1918 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Agreement between US government and southern coastal state, including Texas, temporarily suspends game, fish and oyster laws as a wartime measure, reimposed in 1919 after Texas protest
1918 United States of America Wildlife, Legislation President Woodrow Wilson signs the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, joining with Canada to protect birds
1919 United States of America Parks National Parks and Conservation Association founded
1921 Texas Energy The Gulf-Burnet No.2 well produces the first Panhandle oil and encourages further exploration
1921 United States of America Air Pollution, Technology Tetraethyl lead is added to gasoline as an octane booster
1922 International Wildlife Killing of last recorded Monk Seal, a subtropical marine mammal native to the West Indies, lost to hunting pressure from fishermen who saw them as competitors
1922 United States of America Non-Profit Groups Izaak Walton League founded
1923 Texas Chemicals, Energy, Pollution Construction of a carbon black plant in Stephens County signals creation of the Texas petrochemical industry
1923 Texas Non-Profit Groups Formation of the Outdoor Nature Club in Houston
1923 Texas Parks, Legislation, Agencies Texas State Parks Board is created by the Legislature and empowered to solicit donations of tracts of land for the "purpose of public parks" and to investigate and locate tracts suitable for use as state parks
1923 Texas Parks, Non-Profit Groups Texas State Parks Association organizes for "encouraging and assisting in the establishment of a systems of State parks", and proposes parks in the Davis Mountains, Palo Duro Canyon, Frio Canyon, Junction, Bosque County, Rabb's Palm Grove in Brownsville,
1923 Texas Wildlife, Legislation Texas Legislature approves Game, Fish and Oyster Commission to make full use of license and fee revenue, formerly diverted to the General Fund, doubling the Commission's disbursements, and allowing it to hire 50 additional game wardens
1924 Texas Wildlife, Education Texas Game, Fish and Oyster Commission uses movies of native wildlife to promote conservation
1924 United States of America Legislation, Forestry Clarke-McNary Bill supercedes Weeks Act of 1911, and promotes reforestation by distributing seedlings and advice to private woodlot owners
1924 United States of America Wildlife, Legislation, Parks Congress establishes the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge to manage waterfowl and fish, making it the first refuge open to hunting
1925 Texas Wildife, Legislation Texas Legislature approves a game preserve act empowering the Game Fish and Oyster Commission to lease land from private landowners to create sanctuaries where hunting would be restricted and populations could recover
1925 United States of America Transportation Howard Johnson's roadside inns founded, leading to the "rocket diners" of the 1930s, which led to McDonalds and the fast food beef culture of the 1950s and later
1926 International Technology Invention of the hand-held, mobile gasoline-powered chain saw by Andreas Stihl, extends the speed and extent of low-cost logging
1926 Texas Rulings, Water Boyd v. Motyl Heirs ruling asserts that state of Texas has control over storm and flood waters, and that Board of Water Engineers has authority to make appropriations for water projects
1926 Texas Water, Navigation, Dredging Dredging of the Corpus Christi ship canal is completed, providing a port for ocean-going vessels
1927 International Population World human population grows to 2 billion
1927 Texas Wildlife, Legislation, Agencies Texas Office of Game, Fish and Oyster Commissioner receives legal authority to prosecute violators of pollution statutes
1928 United States, International Agriculture  
1929 Texas Legislation, Water, Agencies Texas Legislature authorizes creation of the Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District, the first of the major river authorities that were organized for irrigation, flood control, and hydroelectricity development
1929 United States of America Wildlife, Legislation Congress passes the Migratory Bird Conservation Act, authorizing the purchase of wetlands for waterfowl feeding and nesting habitat
1930 Texas Energy H.L. Hunt's Daisy Bradford #3 well in Kilgore taps into the huge East Texas oil field
1930 Texas Forests Angelina County Lumber Company plants 200,000 seedlings, one of the first examples of reforestation in the state
1930 Texas Wildlife First importation of exotic game from foreign lands to Texas begins with release of nilgai antelope on King Ranch
1930 Texas Wildlife Texas Game, Fish and Oyster Commission launches predator control effort aimed at "any animal that is known to do more harm than good" and including wolves, coyotes, jaguars, mountain lions, foxes and eagles
1931 Texas, United States, International Energy Texas Railroad Commission begins making monthly production allowance announcements, dictating what percentage of maximum production Texas wells could pump, helping control supply and price worldwide until the 1960s, when Middle Eastern production and OPEC grew more important
1932 International Wildlife Extinction of the Heath Hen, a small wild fowl native to the eastern United States, lost to hunting pressure, and later, fire, predation and starvation on a small remaining sanctuary on Martha's Vineyard
1932 Texas Forests Texas timber yield falls to 350 million board feet, the lowest since 1880, and 15% of the 1907 peak
1932 Texas Parks Texas makes its first purchases of land for state parks in the acquisition of Longhorn Cavern and Palo Duro Canyon
1933 Texas Forests, Parks, Agencies Civilian Conservation Corps organizes 12 camps in East Texas to work on tree planting, fire protection, trail building, and other projects
1933 Texas Legislation, Water, Agencies Creation of the Lower Neches River Authority
1933 Texas Legislation, Water, Agencies Creation of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority
1933 Texas Parks Texas Legislature creates Texas Canyons State Park on fifteen sections of land in the vicinity of Santa Elena, Mariscal, and Boquillas canyons on the Rio Grande in southern Brewster County, later to be expanded by the federal government and renamed Big B
1933 United States of America Agencies Soil Erosion Service, later known as the Soil Conservation Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, created.
1934 International Wildlife First Migratory Bird hunting stamp issued
1934 United States of America Agriculture A storm blows Dust Bowl dirt from Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas as far east as New York City and Washington, D.C., giving the Midwest's soil erosion national attention
1934 United States of America Legislation Taylor Grazing Act passed, enabling US Department of the Interior to regulate grazing on public lands in the West
1935 International Technology Invention of the one-person combine, which contributed to the horse-poor, banker-dominated rural economy
1935 Texas Energy Conoco, Texaco, Shell and others bring in oil and gas wells that develop the Permian Basin oil field
1935 Texas Legislation, Water, Agencies Texas creates the Texas Planning Board to build a coordinated state-wide plan for conservation and use of water
1935 Texas Legislation, Water, Agencies Creation of the Lower Colorado River Authority
1935 Texas Legislation, Water, Agencies Creation of the Upper Colorado River Authority
1935 Texas Legislation, Water, Agencies Creation of the Nueces River Authority
1935 Texas Parks Federal acquisition of Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, Angelina and Sabine National Forests is begun.
1935 United States of America Dams Final concrete poured for the Hoover Dam, leading to the oasis culture of the U.S. West
1935 United States of America Parks, Non-Profit Groups Wilderness Society founded
1936 International Wildlife Death of last captive Tasmanian Tiger-wolf, a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia, due to bounty-hunting by sheep raisers, and by competition with the introduced wild dog, the dingo
1936 Texas Forests, Parks H.B. Parks and V.L. Cory write the Biological Survey of the East Texas Big Thicket Area, among the first organized efforts to protect the Thicket, then estimated at 1 million acres in size
1936 Texas Water Army Corps of Engineers begins stream surveys in Texas for possible flood control projects
1936 United States of America Legislation, Water Congress passes the Flood Control Act of 1936 granting the Army Corps of Engineers responsibility for flood control on navigable waters
1936 United States of America Non-Profit Groups National Wildlife Federation founded
1937 Texas Forests Construction of a pulpwood plant in Houston leads to commercial use of wood for Kraft pulp in container board, wrapping, and magazines
1937 Texas Legislation, Water, Agencies Creation of the San Antonio River Authority
1937 Texas Legislation, Water, Agencies Creation of the San Jacinto River Authority
1937 Texas, United States of America, International Wildlife, Parks Aransas National Wildlife Refuge established to protect the wintering grounds of the endangered whooping crane
1937 United States of America Non-Profit Groups, Wildlife Ducks Unlimited established
1937 United States of America Technology First sanitary landfill, utilizing trench disposal, compaction and layering constructed (Fresno, California)
1938 International Technology Introduction of nylon by DuPont, signalling the rise of the petrochemical-based synthetics industry
1938 Texas Non-Profit Groups Founding of Texas Federation of Nature Clubs
1938 Texas Water, Agencies Army Corps of Engineers begins construction of the Denison dam, impounding the 89,000-acre Lake Texoma on the Red River, its first major project in Texas
1939 International Technology DDT invented
1939 Texas Forests First commercial use of southern pine for newsprint production, contributing both to the pressure for reforestation and the replacement of diverse forests by pine plantations
1939 Texas Forests, Parks National Park Service surveys the Big Thicket and recommends inclusion of 400,000 acres in the National Park System, a proposal cut short by the outbreak of WWII
1939 Texas Legislation, Water, Agencies Creation of the Upper Guadalupe River Authority
1939 Texas, United States of America Water, Legislation Rio Grande Compact, which dictates how Texas, Colorado and New Mexico shall share the river, is ratified by the Texas Legislature
1939 United States of America Information, Science, Marine Biology Publication of Between Pacific Tides by Edward Ricketts (known as "Doc" in Steinbeck's Cannery Row)
1941 Texas Dams Mansfield Dam completed on the Colorado River, creating Lake Travis in central Texas
1942 International Technology First atomic reactor reaches criticality
1942 International Wildlife Disappearance of Texas Grey Wolf due to predator control efforts
1942 Texas Information, Periodicals Publication of first issue of Texas Game and Fish by the Texas Game, Fish and Oyster Commission
1943 Texas Wildlife First escaped nutria, a South American furbearing rodent charged with wetland erosion and fragmentation, are documented in Texas
1944 Texas Dams The 89,000-acre, 1,321,000 acre-foot Lake Texoma is completed on the Red River in northeast Texas, near Denison
1944 Texas Forests Texas Forestry Association, Texas Forest Service, East Texas Chamber of Commerce, Southern Pine Association, and American Forest Products create the Texas Tree Farm System to promote commercial reforestation and silviculture
1944 Texas Parks Big Bend National Park created, with 708,000 acres within its boundaries
1944 Texas Water, Non-Profit Groups Texas Water Conservation Association organized
1944 Texas, United States of America, International Water, Legislation Rio Grande Treaty is signed, allocating water between the U.S. and Mexico below Fort Quitman
1945 Texas Health, Water Legislature authorizes the Texas Department of Health to enforce drinking water standards for public water supply systems
1945 Texas Water Texas State Board of Water Engineers reports appreciable declines in the water table in parts of the High Plains where irrigators had pumped significant volumes of groundwater, indicating that the aquifer was limited
1945 United States of America Information, Literature Publication of Pleasant Valley, by Louis Bromfield, regarding agricultural land restoration
1946 International Wildlife Creation of International Whaling Commission to manage annual catch
1947 International Pollution, Water, Technology George M. Schroder invents the first nonwoven-fabric diaper, precursor to the disposable diaper
1947 Texas Information, Literature Adventures with a Texas Naturalist, by Roy Bedichek, is published
1947