Let’s Talk Trash! SEPT / OCT 2019
9
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The Conservationist President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt is often considered the " Conservationist President ."... A sportsman-hunter all his life, Roosevelt sought a chance to hunt the big game of North America before they disappeared. Although his writings depict numerous hunting trips and successful kills, they are laced with lament for the loss of species and habitat. The decimation of bison, and the eradication of elk, bighorn sheep, deer and other game species was a loss which Roosevelt felt indicative of society's perception of our natural resources. He saw the effects of overgrazing, and suffered the loss of his ranches because of it. While many still considered natural resources inexhaustible, Roosevelt would write: “We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation”. Conservation increasingly became one of Roosevelt's main concerns. After becoming president in 1901, Roosevelt used his authority to protect wildlife and public lands by creating the United States Forest Service (USFS) and establishing 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, 4 national game preserves, 5 national parks, and 18 national monuments by enabling the 1906 American Antiquities Act. During his presidency,Theodore Roosevelt protected approximately 230 million acres of public land. www.nps.gov
National Monuments
• Devil's Tower (WY) - 1906 • El Morro (NM) - 1906 • Montezuma Castle (AZ) - 1906 • Petrified Forest (AZ) - 1906 (now a national park) • Chaco Canyon (NM) - 1907 • Lassen Peak (CA) - 1907 (now Lassen Volcanic National Park) • Cinder Cone (CA) - 1907 (now part of Lassen Volcanic National Park) • Gila Cliff Dwellings (NM) - 1907 • Tonto (AZ) - 1907 • Muir Woods (CA) - 1908 • Grand Canyon (AZ) - 1908 (now a national park) • Pinnacles (CA) - 1908 (now a national park) • Jewel Cave (SD) - 1908 • Natural Bridges (UT) - 1908 • Lewis & Clark Caverns (MT) - 1908 (now a Montana State Park) • Tumacacori (AZ) - 1908 • Wheeler (CO) - 1908 (now Wheeler Geologic Area, part of Rio Grande National Forest) • Mount Olympus (WA) - 1909 (now Olympic National Park) Roosevelt signed the Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities - also known as the Antiquities Act or the National Monuments Act - on June 8, 1906. The law gave the president discretion to "declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic and scientific interest... to be National Monuments." Since he did not need congressional approval, Roosevelt could establish national monuments much easier than national parks. He dedicated these sites as national monuments:
Montezuma Castle (AZ)
Devil's Tower (WY)
Lassen Volcanic National Park (CA)
https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/historyculture/theodore-roosevelt-and-conservation.htm
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