Environmentalism

I heard several times that the ancestral Puebloans of Mesa Verde were environmentalist and I found that comment very interesting. While I agree that they cared about the land and respected the land, I don't think they were environmentalist.

One needs only examine what we know of their lifestyle to reach this conclusion. Current climatologist believe that each family used a tree a week for heating and cooking. The population estimates suggest that up to 50,000 people were living in the area at its peak. If a family had ten people then up to 5,000 trees were being harvested per week.

I think one of the primary causes for the abandonment of Mesa Verde was depletion of natural resources. The ancestral Puebloans were primarily farmers and they planted up to two crops a year. The only way for the soil to be replenished was for winds to carry new top soil to the area. I think over time, the nutrients in the soil diminished and crop yields began to drop forcing the area to be abandon.