Theodore Roosevelt And Conservation: A Legacy From Sea To Shining Sea

Teddy Roosevelt at Union Station, Washington,DC, 1916

Theordore Roosevelt was born into a prominent New York family on this day in 1858. Through his strong determination and a robust program of excercise and outdoor activity, he overcame severe asthma in his youth to become our 26th President, serving from 1901 to 1909. On his way to the White House he wrung about as much out of life as possible. You can read a rather detailed outline of his life at his Wikipedia entry. For purposes of this post I would like to focus primarily on activities within our national park system that contributed to him being known as our conservation president. It is a remarkable record including law and policy that continues to impact us more than a century after its creation.

In his eight years as President, Teddy Roosevelt signed legislation creating five national parks:

Crater Lake, Oregon

Wind Cave, South Dakota

Sullys Hill, North Dakota (later deignated a wildlife preserve)

Mesa Verde, Colorado

Platt, Oklahoma (now a portion of Chickasaw National Recreation Area

Although the new national parks were landmarks in his presidency, his signing of legislation expressed in the Antiquities Act of 1906 would come to have a huge impact on our national landscape through the creation of national monuments. The act established the nation's first broad national historic preservation policy in addition to protecting natural resources. Futhermore, it allowed for the establishment of such monuments through administrative action rather than legislation as had been done in the creation of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, in 1872 and Casa Grande Ruins, Arizona, in 1892. In a matter of months following his signature of the act, Roosevelt proclaimed four monuments:

Devils Tower, Wyoming

El Morro, New Mexico

Montezuma's Castle, Arizona

Petrified Forest, Arizona (now Petrified Forest National Park)

Grand Canyon, Arizona, (now Grand Canyon National Park)

In addition he proclaimed several monuments that would later be transferred to the Department of the Interior and eventually administered by the National Park Service following its creation in 1916.

Theordore Roosevelt's role as an American president and conservationist is now commemorated at six legacy units established over the last century:

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site, New York City

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Oyster, Bay, New York

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, Buffalo, New York

Theordore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

Theodore Roosevelt Island, Washington, DC

Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota

The next time you visit a National Park Service unit, large or small, there's a very good chance Theodore Roosevelt had either a direct link to its creation or to his remarkable conservation and preservation legacy. Although he never established the agency his work certainly formed its foundation ten years after he left the presidency. It's also important to remember that his work extended beyond the national parks to include 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, and four national game preserves. And in many ways his work has never ended. Our current generation and those to come will be far richer because Theodore Roosevelt, the conservation president, cared.




Sources
Photos and Illustrations:
All photos are public domain

Text:
https://www.nps.gov/thrb/learn/historyculture/trandthenpsystem.htm
https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/historyculture/theodore-roosevelt-and-conservation.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt