Conservation and efficiency: The reform campaign of the Utah Agricultural College, 1888--192

This thesis seeks to explain the roots of conservation in Utah. Focusing on Utah agriculture, it first proves that conservation ideals did have some acceptance in the West. During the early twentieth century, Utah farmers generally adopted conservation principles because they thought conservation practices would bring them increased profits. Unfortunately, just because farmers moved to incorporate conservation into their practices does not mean they learned to use their resources in an environmentally sustainable way.;The thesis begins with background on resource development in early Utah territory. The second chapter deals with the formation of the Utah Agricultural College and its attempts to transform the Utah countryside into an agricultural breadbasket. Often in step with their Progressive counterparts in Washington D.C., Utah conservationists advocated development at the expense of sustainability. While Utah certainly experienced an agricultural boom, their practices would not sustain small, independent farmers.