Complex sentence: Unlike the pre-World War II elitist ideology of conservationist production, this emergent approach in North America was of grassroots consumers engaging democratically in environmental issues, and there was often tension between the public and managers of the environment.
Split into simpler sentences: Unlike the pre-World War II elitist ideology of conservationist production, this emergent approach in North America was of grassroots consumers engaging democratically in environmental issues. A source of tension was often between the public and managers of the environment.