Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation in America

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Since the beginning of civilization, humans have seen the life of many species end. Sometimes it is a natural extinction, but other times it is from some sort of human interference in the natural order of things. During the 20th century alone, we have lost or are close to losing species like the black-tailed prairie dog and the passenger pigeon (also known as the stool pigeon because one could be trapped and it would call others to help it and all of them would be netted) due to unregulated hunting. Both of these species were extremely abundant, in fact, the passenger pigeon was thought to be the most abundant bird in the mid-1800’s; but due to over hunting, both species’ populations were extremely low by the beginning of the 1900’s and the passenger pigeon was extinct by 1914 .

Thankfully, for the endangered and close to endangered species and wild lands of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt became the Vice President of the United States in 1901 under William McKinley. In less than a year, McKinley had been assassinated and Roosevelt became the United States’ 26th president. Roosevelt was an avid sportsman who started the United States’ first national parks and hunting and fishing laws. For the past 100 years, Roosevelt’s theory and contributions to conservation have molded past, current, and inevitably the future’s approach to conservation in America. His theory towards conservation is still applied today and its future is secure.

Conservation is the careful utilization of a natural resource in order to prevent depletion. More specifically it is the official supervision of rivers, forests, and other natural resources in order to preserve and protect them through prudent management. Conservation is sometimes confused with preservation. Preservation is to maintain and reserve (game, fish, etc.) for continued survival or for private use, as in hunting or fishing. The difference is that conservation is the wise use of our resources for everyone to use and enjoy; while preservation is the non-use (sometimes little use) our resources for the benefit of a few (sometimes none). An example of conservation versus preservation is the McNary Game Refuge in Oregon and Washington State. Part of the McNary refuge is a form of preservation and is a sanctuary for game birds such as ducks and geese, while the other part a form of conservation is open for seasonal hunting.

Roosevelt was the kind of man that could not only get things done, but he could get things done his own way. During his presidency, he was able to build the Panama Canal – using military force – and he was able to mediate the Russo-Japan War . But, arguably, his biggest accomplishment was his conservation effort. Being a great hunter and outdoorsman himself, Roosevelt knew that something had to be done to protect the United States’ vast wildlife and land, especially in the west where the buffalo, white-tail deer, and other wildlife populations were diminishing. Roosevelt also knew that the beautiful, natural sites in the United States needed to be preserved not only for the wildlife that roam them, but also for future generations of humans to witness the natural beauty of their nation. Roosevelt brings that point home in the following quote: “Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying the ‘the game belongs to the people.’ So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The ‘greatest good for the greatest number’ applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction.” With this quote, Roosevelt not only showed his dream to preserve land and wildlife for future generations of man and beast, but it is also the duty of any nation that wants a rich future with as many of it’s resources intact as possible.

Roosevelt also said that “our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method.” The fact that Roosevelt said that we, as a society, have a duty to the whole shows how he viewed our environment and it’s importance for future generations.

Theodore Roosevelt was always interested in the natural world ever since he was a young boy. He used to collect insects, plants, bird nests, animal bones and sometimes small animals themselves and study them. At the same time, his father was helping to establish the American Museum of Natural History. This led to Theodore Roosevelt’s first official act of conservation, or at least educating others and bringing their attention to the natural world, the establishment of the “Roosevelt Museum of Natural History.” The museum started with just twelve specimens, but with help from his family, it grew to over 200 specimens in just one year. As Roosevelt grew into his teenage years, he started to study taxidermy. His skill as a taxidermist was well advanced beyond his age and some of his work is still on display today.

His interest in the natural world was slightly curbed in his senior year of college at Harvard when he started to study Political Science instead of Natural History. He was soon elected into the New York Assembly and while on the Assembly, he donated over 600 specimens to the Smithsonian Institute. In 1883, Roosevelt ventured west to the Badlands of the Dakotas. In the Dakotas, he met George Bird Grinnell who was a fellow lover of nature. The two men saw the decline in game birds and mammals due to unregulated hunting and established the Boone and Crockett Club. The club stressed the importance of ethical hunting and the use of scientific means to build and maintain conservation in the United States. Over the next ten years the club, led by Roosevelt and grouped with Field and Steam magazine, was able to create the first national zoo in the United States, set the foundation for the National Forest system, got the Park Protection Act to pass through Congress (this act prevented the development of Yellowstone), created the first zoo in New York (the Bronx Zoo, and passed Fair Hunting Standards in New York State which temporarily prevented jack lighting (spotting game with lights) and hounding (chasing game with hounds).

Roosevelt went on to become the governor of New York to help stop the corruption in big business an the political machines. In the just the three years that he was the governor, he managed to stop corruption in the Fisheries, Forest, and Game Commission, spoke to use modern conservation efforts to manage forests, and spoke to help protect birds and other wildlife. But his list of achievements so far could not match what he did as the President of the United States.

As the unlikely president of the United States (being that he was originally put in Vice President spot to kill his political career ) Roosevelt achieved a lot in conservation, maybe more than any American president in history. He helped pass legislation to build dams in the west which irrigated land so people could populate it easier. He created the first wildlife refuge and passed the Antiquities Act, which allowed the president to make national monuments. He also combined the General Land Office, the United States Geological Survey, and the Bureau of Forestry so these three could work together to be more productive. Before these three were together they would sometimes overlap duties and therefore, not be as productive as they could be together. And he created the Establishment of Inland Waterways Commission and the National Conservation Commission. Roosevelt’s work towards an America with an eye towards conservation still shows in the beginning of the 21st century.

Gifford Pinchot, one of the first foresters in the United States, was one of Roosevelt’s friends and his National Forest Commission (later renamed the United States Forest Service) quickly gained national prominence. Pinchot and Roosevelt developed a theory where the forests could be developed by private industry, in exchange for a fee. Pinchot helped Roosevelt make the importance of conservation understood by Americans and people around the world by greatly publicizing the problems of over-hunting, clear cutting, and poaching. He also showed people how to curb these problems through conservation.

Today, the United States has many laws and regulations in regards to ethical and safe hunting and fishing. There is also still the protection of national and state parks and forests. Roosevelt would be happy today to see that the ideas and laws that he set in motion are not only being enforced today, but also being improved on whenever needed or possible. It can be best summed up by Gifford Pinchot, “The greatest work that Theodore Roosevelt did for the United States, the great fact which will give his influence vitality and power long after we shall all have gone to our reward, is … that he changed the attitude of the American people toward conserving the natural resources.”

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