This chapter explores the concept embedded in historical ecology that humans are part of what we often define as nature and not apart from it. Four observations are considered: first, small-scale societies transform their world; second, these transformations have been ongoing since the dawn of humanity; third, micro-analyses are required to reconstruct histories of local events; and fourth, historical environmental changes are the product of both intentional and unintentional activities. The histories of the Late Archaic Jaketown and Poverty Point sites are used as examples. Finally, the policy implications of these conclusions are considered. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors may not have had the tools that allowed them to see the effects of their actions on the physical world, but modern society cannot claim such ignorance.