The non-violent action-oriented Chipko movement initiated by Bhatt and Bahuguna in other parts of Uttarakhand has helped people unite against the mismanagement and exploitation of forest resources for distant markets at the expense of local needs. In this movement, however, two forms of leadership have emerged, differing in both style and content, and this difference has been amplified by the media. One is that of Chandi Prasad Bhatt of DGSS, portrayed as a grassroots worker and pragmatic conservationist. He believes that the local community has the right to control its surroundings, and it is responsible for conserving and developing the resources as well. He organized the country's largest afforestation program (through eco-development camps), having planted over a million trees with the survival rate of 85 percent. He is not only for saving the forest but also for what he calls saving the people, by initiating forest-based small-scale industries such as saw mills. Another leader is Sundarlal Bahuguna of Silyara (Tehri), who has been portrayed as being mainly a Gandhian and a journalist. He concentrates on ecology and writing/speaking against the forestry department and the state, and vocalizing ecological concerns nationally and internationally. He employed the symbolic approach if fasts, marches (padayatra), and speeches. In 1981 Bahuguna organized a foot march from Kashmir to Kohima to campaign against deforestation. In January 1990, he fasted against the construction of the Tehri Dam. He has traveled to Mexico, Europe, and USA to speak about the global problem of forest exploitation. He is against deforestation and any commercial use of the forest; he wants a complete ban on tree-cutting, a revival of the simple lifestyle, and regeneration of life-support systems. Differences between the two approaches are sometimes referred to as the ecology vs. economy divide, but they are in a sense complementary, each strengthening the other. The main problem of leader-oriented discussion is that it neglects the efforts of the people.
The DGSS, along with other groups of the Chipko movement, has brought about an increased understanding of the divergent interests of not only the local communities and the state government, but of men and women within the same community. Since the leadership of DGSS is sensitive to this learning process, its efforts are likely to grow in strength. The work of DGSS has been nationally and internationally recognized. Bhatt received the Magsaysay (1982) and Padma Shri (1986) awards, and the philosophy of the Chipko movement has encouraged the 'Appiko' movement of the Western Ghats of south India, and wider ecological consciousness in other parts of the world.