Preserving the Landscape

To the Editors:

Peter Singer’s review in your February 15 issue of the Hendricks’ anthology of the works of Henry Salt states that “as late as 1928…there existed no organization for the protection of the English landscape.” That is incorrect. The Council for the Preservation of Rural England was founded in 1926 to coordinate the activities of twenty-four existing amenity organizations, including the Commons Open Spaces and Footpaths Preservation Society, which dates back to 1865, and the National Trust, organized in 1895. The English environmental movement predates 1928 by many years.

John Ranlett
Potsdam College, SUNY
Potsdam, New York

Peter Singer replies:

I was relying on Salt’s own description of the situation. It seems that he got it wrong. I thank Professor Ranlett for the correction.