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HOW HAS THEODORE ROOSEVELT REVEALED

HIMSELF AS THE FOUNDING FATHER OF THE

AMERICAN CONSERVATION MOVEMENT? Author: Wout Vergauwen, MA in History, MA in American Studies (Ghent University)

Note: This paper was written as an assignment for the American History & Politics I course in

the Master’s Program American Studies, taught by Professor Ken Kennard at Ghent University,

Belgium – paper submitted in December 2013.

CONSERVATION

Ever since Theodore Roosevelt left office in 1909, politicians, historians and naturalists have

debated who the twenty-sixth president really was, and how he should be remembered: as a

politician, a cowboy, a soldier, a historian, an author, a conservationist, or a hunter. However,

Theodore Roosevelt could not be pigeonholed, and that is why he is now remembered as one of

most versatile presidents since Thomas Jefferson. Therefore, out of the numerous issues Roose-

velt stood for, this paper has selected one key aspect that still influences contemporary America:

the creation of national parks and monuments. This not only offers us a representation of his

conservation efforts but also reveals a part of his real identity. In this paper, the question of Roo-

sevelt’s role in the emergence of the conservation movement will be addressed in relation to his

rising influence as president. Further on, it will be discussed that the entanglement of these fac-

tors was necessary to overcome the serious challenges Roosevelt faced during his efforts.

These challenges, however, were not only political, but also personal. From his youth on-

wards, Roosevelt always felt passionate for the nature in which he found comfort while battling

illness.1 As a result, he entered Harvard on the brink of adulthood “intending to become […] a

scientific man of the Audubon, or Wilson, or Baird, or Coues type – a man like Hart Merriam, or

1 D. Brinkley, The Wilderness warrior. Theodore Roosevelt and the crusade for America, New York (NY), Harper Perennial, 2010, p. 22.

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Frank Chapman, or Hornaday, to-day.”2 Disappointed in the way science was practiced at univer-

sity – through the microscope and in the laboratory, no field work – he decided to pursue his

fascination for nature elsewhere. In 1888, he founded the Boone and Crockett Club, a foundation

concerned with the preservation of big game species and their habitat that quickly became one

of the most effective conservation organizations of its day.3 Other initiatives followed before he

entered the white house, but since that timeframe is not this paper’s delimitation, the reader has

to understand the author’s inability to explore this field. In order to offer the reader a complete

and delimited read, this paper’s aim is restricted to Roosevelt’s conservation effort during his

presidency (1901 – 1909), and its narrative will be supported by the use of National Parks and

Monuments as case studies. Research will be based on both primary and secondary sources. The

former may contain speeches and writings by the hand of the president, or legislation passed by

Congress.

THE FIRST NATIONAL PARKS AND THEODORE ROOSEVELT’S GROWING INFLUENCE

Only five national parks – Yellowstone, Sequoia, General Grant, Yosemite and Mount Rainier –

existed when Theodore Roosevelt took office after the assassination of his predecessor, Presi-

dent William McKinley, on September 14, 1901.4 Given his lifelong passion for nature, there

could be no doubt that he had the ambition to expand the United States’ conservation policy, and

this soon became clear in his first annual message to a joint Congress. After praising president

McKinley and condemning his assassin, Roosevelt addresses the issue of conservation and

preservation rather early in his twenty thousand word speech:

“Public opinion throughout the United States has moved steadily toward a just appreciation of

the value of forests, whether planted or of natural growth. The great part played by them in the

creation and maintenance of the national wealth is now more fully realized than ever before […]

The forest reserves will inevitably be of still greater use in the future than in the past. Additions

should be made to them whenever practicable, and their usefulness should be increased by a

thoroughly business-like management […] The forests are natural reservoirs.”5

2 O.H. Orr, Saving American Bird: T. Gilbert Pearson and the Founding of the Audubon Movement, Gaines-ville (FL), University Press of Florida, 1992, p. 74 3 S. Marvinney , “Theodore Roosevelt, Conservationist” In: New York State Conservationist, 50 (1996), 6, [retrieved from: web.ebscohost.com on November 23, 2013] 4 D. Brinkley, op. cit., p. 450. 5 T. Roosevelt, First Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1901 [retrieved from: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu on November 24, 2013] This is part of a larger excerpt: “Public opinion throughout the United States has moved steadily toward a just appreciation of the value of forests, whether planted or of natural growth. The great part played by them in the creation and maintenance of the national wealth is now more fully realized than ever before […] The practical usefulness of the national forest reserves to the mining, grazing, irrigation, and other interests of

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A few paragraphs further, he adds that “The Government should construct and maintain these

reservoirs as it does other public works.”6 In his first annual message, Roosevelt seizes McKinley’s

assassination as an opportunity to grab Congress’ attention and to shift it towards what he

thinks is important. Under the banner of public support and national responsibility, he sets out

the guidelines for what was to become the cornerstone of his domestic policy. Indeed, it did not

last long before the first of his national parks was created.

This tradition goes back to March 1, 1872, when the 42nd Congress passed ‘An Act to set apart

a certain Tract of Land lying near the Head-waters of the Yellowstone River as a public Park,’

thereby creating the world’s first national park.7 Its aim was to create regulations that “shall

provide for the preservation, from injury or spoliation, of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curi-

osities, or wonders within said park, and their retention in their natural condition.”8 Following this

tradition, President Roosevelt wished to expand the Federal Government’s influence over the

country’s natural richness by creating at least one new national park. In his search for the prop-

er location, he first came across the Grand Canyon plateau. Opposition was fierce since declaring

the plateau a National Park would prohibit mining – until then promoted by the Federal Gov-

ernment.9 In order to evade a long fight in his first year as president, Roosevelt was persuaded to

select “a less controversial natural legacy to preserve.”10 Based on the advice he was given by

Gifford Pinchot, a confidant and the later chief of the newly created US Forest Service, Roosevelt

sent out an expedition to a Crater Lake in southern Oregon. According to Douglas Brinkley (Rice

University), Pinchot’s idea was “to save the Crater Lake quickly and then have the president jour-

ney by train to the Grand Canyon to stir up public sympathy for creating a national park there.”11

The plan worked in part because the Grand Canyon only obtained its status as national park

on February 26, 1919. Crater Lake however, became the sixth national park of the US on May 22,

the regions in which the reserves lie has led to a widespread demand by the people of the West for their pro-tection and extension. The forest reserves will inevitably be of still greater use in the future than in the past. Additions should be made to them whenever practicable, and their usefulness should be increased by a thor-oughly business-like management […] The forests are natural reservoirs. By restraining the streams in flood and replenishing them in drought they make possible the use of waters otherwise wasted. They prevent the soil from washing, and so protect the storage reservoirs from filling up with silt. Forest conservation is there-fore an essential condition of water conservation.” 6 Idem. This is part of a larger excerpt: “The Government should construct and maintain these reservoirs as it does other public works. Where their purpose is to regulate the flow of streams, the water should be turned freely into the channels in the dry season to take the same course under the same laws as the natural flow.” 7 “National Park Service Overview” [retrieved from: http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/index.htm on Novem-ber 24, 2013] 8 “An Act to set apart a certain Tract of Land Lying near the Head-waters of the Yellowstone River as a public Park.” In: US Statutes at Large, Volume 17, Chapter 24, pp. 32 – 33. 9 D. Brinkley, op. cit., p. 451. 10 Ibidem., p. 452. 11 Idem.

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1902.12 The US Congress established an area of two hundred and forty-nine square miles that is

“reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States,

and dedicated and set apart forever as a public park or pleasure ground for the benefit of the peo-

ple of the United States, to be known as Crater Lake National Park.”13 The choice for Crater Lake

was not as random as it might seem at first. Indeed, in the late eighteen-hundreds, one William

Gladstone Steel made a real effort over many years to preserve the rich nature of the Crater Lake

Area. Since the conservation community at the time was rather small, it is not surprising Steel

once had the opportunity to show Gifford Pinchot the Crater Lake, an experience the latter de-

scribed as “a wonder of the world, a great body of the clearest water miles across, fed by springs,

surrounded on all sides by high cliffs, set in [a] majestic forest.”14

Creating a national park however was not as simple as one might think, especially since Roo-

sevelt had to create a new mindset. Indeed, Roosevelt did not only need to persuade Congress,

but he also needed to invent a whole new policy domain that was understood by the people. One

of his battles with Congress will be highlighted further on, but more important here is to see

how Roosevelt used his presidential influence to gain public support for his conservation efforts.

Public support was almost nonexistent, or as Roosevelt noted himself in his autobiography: “the

relationship between the conservation of natural resources and the ‘National welfare’ had not yet

‘dawned on the public mind’.”15 The establishment of his conservationist ideals as the hallmark of

his presidency was no easy task. Therefore, one should ask how he accomplished what he did

and how he profiled himself as the founder of the conservation movement – although he did not

create the first national park, and neither did he establish the National Park Service which was

Woodrow Wilson’s accomplishment in 1916. Thus, the question that really needs to be an-

swered first is the one about the source of his powers, the way he obtained them, and the way he

used them. Be sure, these powers were needed. From the beginning onwards, Roosevelt faced

fierce opposition, not only from Congress, but also from ranchers, mine operators, loggers, pow-

er companies, and the Western states who protested his conservation efforts because they lim-

ited the exploitation of natural resources. 16 However, within the boundaries of the law, Roose-

12 At the time, it was the sixth national park, although it was the seventh national park to be created. Mack-inac National Park was indeed established in 1875, but it was again disbanded in 1895. Today, Crater Lake National Park is the fifth oldest national park, since General Grant National Park, created in 1890, lost its status as independent national park when it was incorporated into Kings Canyon National Park in 1940. 13 “An Act Reserving from the public lands in the State of Oregon, as a public park for the benefit of the people of the United States, and for the protection and preservation of the game, fish, timber, and all other natural objects therein, a tract of land herein described, and so forth.” In: US Statutes at Large, Volume 32, Part 1, Chapter 820, pp. 202 – 203. 14 G. Pinchot, Breaking New Ground, Washington DC, Island Press, 1998, p. 101. 15 L.G. Dorsey, “The Frontier Myth in Presidential Rhetoric: Theodore Roosevelt’s Campaign for Conserva-tion” In: Western Journal of Communications, 59 (1995), 1, p. 2. 16 D.O. Buehler, “Permanence and Change in Theodore Roosevelt’s Conservation Jeremiad” In: Western Journal of Communications, 62 (1998), 4, p. 446.

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velt continued to protect the environment and the resourceful nature for the generations to

come, although he dealt rather creatively with Congress and legislation.

A remarkable though interesting way to approach the power issue was partly explored by

Leroy Dorsey (Texas A&M University) who analyzed Roosevelt’s rhetoric. Roosevelt, so it ap-

peared, often used one of the nation’s most popular historical myths to gain support: the Fron-

tier Myth. Unlike other rhetorical presidents however, he did not just use it, he altered the myth

so it could serve his purposes.17 Being perceived as a frontiersman himself, he used this image to

rearticulate the myth and link it to his conservation purposes, thereby promoting his policies. A

similar opinion was voiced three years later by Daniel Buehler (University of Maryland) who

saw the president’s rhetorical capacities as largely responsible for the success of his conserva-

tion policies. Indeed, Roosevelt needed to persuade his audience and confronted two rhetorical

challenges to do so: “First, he had to create a sense of exigency, an urgency to resolve the environ-

mental crisis. Second,” and this is further explained by Dorsey “he had to formulate a nexus be-

tween conservation and values and attitudes that his audience embraced.”18 In doing so, Roosevelt

did not only use the altered Frontiers Myth, but linked his alterations to both the Constitution

and Thomas Jefferson. Although, these cannot be seen as “values and attitudes” in a literal way,

they serve the purpose perfectly.

The Jefferson link becomes clear reviewing the first alteration, that of the frontier’s hero.

Once perceived as a Jeffersonian yeoman farmer, the myth’s hero had evolved towards the Old

West cowboy whose brutal character and limitless exploitation of nature had been turned into

virtues by the end of the century. Roosevelt however linked the then contemporary farmer to his

Jeffersonian counterpart, thereby restoring the “American hero that could symbolize the conser-

vation of the nation’s resources”19 and thus revitalizing the ‘original’ Frontier Myth. A second al-

teration dealt with the finite character of the Frontier, where Roosevelt played the commercial,

rather than the environmental card – “if you do not want to preserve nature for nature itself, at

least support it for commercial interest.” The link with the Constitution however did not became

clear until the 1908 Governor’s Conference on Conservation and will therefore be explored later

on.

STRUGGLE WITH CONGRESS – A BATTLE FOR POWER

After signing the Crater Lake Bill, Roosevelt did not take the time to enjoy the creation of his

national park. One of the first things he did after signing the bill was sending the signing pen to

17 L.G. Dorsey, art. cit., p. 3. 18 D.O. Buehler, art. cit., p. 441. 19 L.G. Dorsey, art. cit., p. 8.

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Steel in Portland, OR after which he started looking for another natural gem worth saving. As

luck would have it – seen from Roosevelt’s perspective, that is – a feud concerning the Wind

Cave in South Dakota got out of hand and gained Washington’s attention. Since the parties in-

volved could not come to an agreement, the Interior Department stepped in and on January 18,

1900, the land was withdrawn from settlement and held in reserve until Congress had decided

what should be done with it. 20 After guaranteeing themselves they would not protect a profita-

ble mining site – a detailed map of the cave was commissioned – Congress approved ‘An Act to

set apart certain lands in the State of South Dakota as a public park, to be known as the Wind Cave

National Park’ on January 9, 1903. 21 Later the same day, Roosevelt signed the bill into law,

thereby creating his second national park.

Later the same year, Roosevelt visited the world’s first national park – Yellowstone – as part

of ‘The Great Loop tour’ that also included stops in Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. This visit

was important to increase “American awareness of the wonders of Yellowstone,” thereby gather-

ing public support for his conservation cause. Although Yellowstone was by far his most favorite

national park, it should be noted that the attention he paid to this park was aimed at all the

parks and is therefore illustrative for the fact he never lost aim. Roosevelt’s conservation efforts

were not short sighted – although it did not have everlasting effects either – and were always

aimed at the general wellbeing of nature. These aims were, according to Gifford Pinchot who

defined them after Roosevelt left the presidency, based on three principles:

“The first principle of conservation is development, the use of the natural resources now existing

on this continent for the benefit of the people who live here now [...] In the second place conser-

vation stands for the prevention of waste […] The first duty of the human race is to control the

earth it lives upon […] [The] third principle is this: The natural resources must be developed and

preserved for the benefit of the many, and not merely the profit of the few.”22

Especially the third principle is remarkable here, since linkages can be determined between

his conservation policy and other domestic policies. Trustbuster Roosevelt was indeed notorious

for taking on those making money at the personal expenses or wellbeing of others. That included

both trusts and cartels on the one hand, and abusers of nature on the other. All in all, it was “the

cause of the public interest against the special interests, the defense of the common heritage

20 “Birth of a National Park” [retrieved from: http://www.nps.gov/wica/historyculture/the-birth-of-a-national-park.htm on November 24, 2013] 21 D. Brinkley, op. cit., p. 462. 22 G. Pinchot, The Fight for Conservation, New York (NY), Doubleday Page and Company, 1910. [Retrieved from: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11238/11238-h/11238-h.htm#2HCH4 on November 29, 2013]

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against predatory selfishness.”23 His fight for conservation would continue and three additional

national parks would be created: North Dakota’s Sullys Hill in 1904, and Oklahoma’s Platt Na-

tional Park and Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park in 1906. In all these efforts he pressed

Congress and the states to place the future public interest over the current private interest.24

Along the way, opposition grew stronger and his opponents became even less compliant, making

it harder for the president to get conservation resolutions through Congress, a Republican Con-

gress nonetheless. He seriously started scorching opponents from 1905 on – now he was presi-

dent on his own merit – and advocated several conservationist policies. In his fourth annual

message to Congress, he announced the creation of a National Forest Service: “[…] neither can we

accept the views of those whose only interest in the forest is temporary; who are anxious to reap

what they have not sown and then move away, leaving desolation behind them […] The creation of

a forest service in the Department of Agriculture will have […] important results”25

Two months later, under the governance of Gifford Pinchot, the Forest Service was indeed

erected. Soon after its creation, the Forest Service accumulated power, thereby becoming inde-

pendent from Congress fast.26 Because of this, lawmakers were, not surprisingly, little accom-

modating with the president’s following conservation policies and saw an opportunity to make

this clear by delaying Roosevelt’s efforts to gain Federal protection for Wyoming’s Devils Tower

– often described as the strangest molten rock configuration in North America – the Grand Can-

yon, and several other sites. Although Roosevelt tried to push this trough, Congress did not ap-

prove and adjourned for the summer in June 1906, assuming they could rest assured.

NATIONAL MONUMENTS – A SMART MOVE

Roosevelt however, held the upper hand and revealed himself as an even stronger defender

of nature. Indeed, during the spring of 1906, he had gathered a team of preservationists drafting

23 G. McConnell, “The Conservation Movement: Past and Present” In: The Western Political Quarterly, 7 (1954), 3, p. 468. 24 W.H. Harbaugh, Power and Responsibility: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt, New York (NY), Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1961, p. 318. 25 T. Roosevelt, Fourth Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 1904 [retrieved from: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu on November 29, 2013] This is part of a larger excerpt: “The forest policy of the government is just now a subject of vivid public in-terest throughout the West and the people of the United States in general […] The forest reserve policy can be successful only when it has the full support of the people of the West. It can not safely, and should not in any case, be imposed upon them against their will. But neither can we accept the views of those whose only inter-est in the forest is temporary; who are anxious to reap what they have not sown and then move away, leaving desolation behind them […] The creation of a forest service in the Department of Agriculture will have for its important results: First. A better handling of all forest work […] Second. The reserves themselves […] will be more easily and more widely useful to the people of the West than has been the case hitherto […] Third. With-in a comparatively short time the reserves will become self-supporting.” 26 W.H. Harbaugh, op. cit., p. 323.

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a bill declaring: “that the President of the United States is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to

declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other

objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the

Government of the United States to be national monuments.”27 The language of the legislation was

carefully chosen and sounded inoffensive. Without realizing what they approved, Senators

passed the bill on May 24, 1906, and the House, also not fully understanding the impact of the

bill on the floor, followed suit on June 5. Roosevelt signed the bill on June 8, and before appre-

hending they were outsmarted by their president, Congressmen went home on June 30 – not to

return before the start of their next session which started on December 3, 1906.

A lot of irony is to be found in this situation since Congress granted, unknowingly, their pres-

ident the power they tried to hold on to. Although it is described by Hal Rothman (University of

Las Vegas) as “an unparalleled tool for a president to use,”28 the boldest thing that can be said is

that Theodore Roosevelt better understood the law than his own lawmakers. Indeed, the newly

‘invented’ National Monuments did not need Congressional approval – as opposed to the Nation-

al Parks – and gave the president free reign to protect whichever natural site he wanted to –

which he did. Wyoming’s Devils Tower was proclaimed the first national monument on Septem-

ber 24, and before the end of the year three others – El Morro (NM), Montezuma Castle (AZ) and

the Petrified Forest (AZ) – would be added to that list. When Roosevelt left office in 1909, four-

teen additional national monuments were created, whereas no new national parks were added

to the list until Roosevelt’s successor, William Howard Taft, added Glacier National Park to the

list in 1910.

This circumvention of Congress was only one example of what Theodore Roosevelt tried to

accomplish: making the presidency more powerful. He never made an effort to hide his belief

that the executive should be the most powerful branch of government and accomplished this in

many ways – i.e. conservation policy.29 Accusations that he usurped congressional powers were

publicly ridiculed which made Congressmen yearn openly “for the day when [Theodore Roose-

velt] would no longer lead – when [Congress] would have again a President in the mold of McKin-

ley.”30

27 “An Act For the preservation of American antiquities.” In: US Statutes at Large, Volume 34, Part 1, Chap-ter 3060, p. 225. 28 D. Brinkley, op. cit., p. 642. 29 L.G. Dorsey, art. cit., p. 2. 30 W.H. Harbaugh, op. cit., p. 333.

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THE GOVERNOR’S CONFERENCE OF 1908

The following year, Congress again assumed it had a tight grip on the president since it had

amended his Agricultural Appropriations Bill. If Roosevelt signed the bill, the amendment would

prohibit him from creating additional forest reserves. Not signing the bill would equally harm

conservation efforts elsewhere. Although Congress had a good case, Roosevelt again bent the

law in his advantage by doing ‘nothing.’ While leaving the bill unsigned on his desk, “he quickly

used his executive power to add 16 million acres of forests, mineral deposits, and power sites to the

forest reserves.” After an infuriated Congress stood by and watched this happen, Roosevelt finally

signed the bill, thereby limiting knowingly his own powers.31 Subsequently Congress blocked the

funding Roosevelt needed for his Inland Waterways Commission and the National Country Life

Commission – a practice he publicly condemned in his eighth annual message – thereby further

limiting his power. The president struck back hard by using what he had used all through his

presidency to gain public support: the media. 32 Newspapers were used to alter the Frontier

myth and to link it to conservation. Again, it would serve this aim, although the proportions of it

would be unseen. On May 13, 1908, Theodore Roosevelt gathered his cabinet members, the As-

sociate Justices and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the governors of thirty eight states and

territories – all forty-six were invited – numerous Senators and Representatives from the 60th

Congress – all were invited – Andrew Carnegie, John Mitchell, James J. Hill and several scientists,

publicists, and representatives of the nation’s learned societies in the East Room of the White

House for what would be the first Governor’s Conference on Conservation, alongside the nation-

al press.33

The culmination of this media campaign would serve to enlarge his presidential powers by

further altering the Frontier Myth. After reshaping the myth’s hero and its limitless environ-

ment, he now also changed the myth’s narrative:

“Every step of the progress of mankind is marked by the discovery and use of natural resources

previously unused. […] 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 shall

31 D.O. Buehler, art. cit., p. 446. 32 T. Roosevelt, Eighth Annual Message to Congress, December 8, 1908 [retrieved from: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu on November 29, 2013] He called those methods “shortsighted, vacillating and futile.” 33 W.H. Harbaugh, op. cit., p. 334.

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have been still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding

the fields, and obstructing navigation.”34

Whereas Roosevelt first linked the whole Frontier Myth to the idea of conservation and pro-

gress, he now redefined the notion of progress “to accommodate his revised versions of the hero

and the frontier.”35 As one can extract from the quote, it is clear Roosevelt condemned the con-

temporary interpretation of the notion of progress. “This Nation as a whole should earnestly de-

sire and strive to leave the next generation the national honor unstained and the national re-

sources exhausted.”36 A few paragraphs earlier, he proclaims this vision as something his altered

frontier hero already does: “Every one knows that a really good farmer leaves his farm more valu-

able at the end of his life than it was when he first took hold of it.”37 In order to really embed his

renewed idea of progress, he linked it to something no American could oppose: the nation’s Con-

stitution: “It was in Philadelphia that the representatives of all the States met for what was in its

original conception merely a waterways conference; but when they had closed their deliberations

the outcome was the Constitution which made the States into a nation.”38

CONCLUSION

After Theodore Roosevelt left office, neither conservationism nor his own personal efforts

disappeared. Moreover, some of his national parks still exist today, an additional national park

was created out of a federal bird reservation Roosevelt set up – Dry Tortugas National Park –

and in 1978, Roosevelt was honored by the creation of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the

North Dakota Badlands.

Roosevelt’s conservation efforts were however not the sole focus of this paper. Although im-

portant because they soon became the hallmark of his domestic policy, they also are a perfect

illustration of Roosevelt’s character and the way he saw the presidency. Indeed, from the begin-

34 T. Roosevelt, Conservation as National Duty, May 13, 1908 [retrieved from: http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/ on November 29, 2013] This is part of a larger excerpt: “Every step of the progress of mankind is marked by the discovery and use of natural resources previously unused. Without such progressive knowledge and utilization of natural re-sources population could not grow, nor industries multiply, nor the hidden wealth of the earth be developed for the benefit of mankind. […] 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 shall have been still fur-ther impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields, and obstructing navigation. These questions do not relate only to the next century or to the next generation. One distinguish-ing characteristic of really civilized men is foresight; we have to, as a nation, exercise foresight for this nation in the future; and if we do not exercise that foresight, dark will be the future!” 35 L.G. Dorsey, art. cit., p. 3. 36 T. Roosevelt, Conservation as National Duty, May 13, 1908 [retrieved from: http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/ on November 29, 2013] 37 Idem. 38 Idem.

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ning onward, he has made clear he believed in a more powerful role for the presidency and set

out immediately to change the major source of power in the federal government towards the

executive. Given his passion for nature, it should be no surprise this ‘crusade’ coincided with his

personal ambition which gave way to the revealing of Theodore Roosevelt as the real founder of

the American conservation movement. Since this statement is not completely true, at least not

seen from a chronological point of view, I would like to focus the reader’s attention on the three

most important reasons why he should be seen as the conservation movement’s Founding Fa-

ther.

First, Roosevelt has an impressive track record concerning conservationist policies. Even be-

fore he entered the presidency, he was involved in the conservation movement, and once in the

White House, he seemed to have gained even more energy resulting in five new national parks

and eighteen new national monuments. The creation of Crater Lake National Park in 1902

should be seen as especially important here, for it not only showed caution on Roosevelt’s be-

half. Preferring Oregon’s Crater Lake over the Grand Canyon also disclosed his commitment to

make his conservation efforts a success. Second, Roosevelt gained new powers for the presiden-

cy through and for his conservation efforts. This is immediately seen in his alteration of the

Frontier Myth, and was more officially illustrated in his battles with Congress. It is this altera-

tion, I believe, that revealed the personality of Theodore Roosevelt. It not only confirmed his

willingness to do everything it takes in order to accomplish his conservationist aims – he altered

one of the basic myths of American society – but this also demonstrates a subtle and rather

unique way of obtaining more power. Roosevelt obtained this because he altered the myth grad-

ually and thoroughly. In a primary phase, he connected the contemporary farmer with the

myth’s Jeffersonian hero. After this idea was rooted in society, Roosevelt transformed the idea of

a limitless Frontier in which the reinvented Jeffersonian farmer belonged. A final phase then

served to alter the notion of progression by embedding his changes in what may be seen as the

spirit of the Constitution. However, the 1906 National Monuments Act showed that this altered

myth was not Roosevelt’s only source of power. Indeed, this act only came to life because of Roo-

sevelt’s cunning and intelligence. Finally, Roosevelt launched an enormous media campaign to

sell his newly ‘invented’ policy to the public, thereby creating public awareness for the conserva-

tion cause, an awareness that outlived his presidency for a long time.

Therefore, these three reasons offer an illustration of a President that included more than just

conservation. These findings also help to explain the character and personality of this twenty-

sixth president, as well as why he accomplished so much during his time in office.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

ARTICLES

Buehler (D.O.). “Permanence and Change in Theodore Roosevelt’s Conservation Jeremiad” In:

Western Journal of Communications, 62 (1998), 4, pp. 439 – 458.

Dorsey (L.G.). “The Frontier Myth in Presidential Rhetoric: Theodore Roosevelt’s Campaign for

Conservation” In: Western Journal of Communications, 59 (1995), 1, pp. 1 – 19.

Marvinney (S.). “Theodore Roosevelt, Conservationist” In: New York State Conservationist, 50

(1996), 6 [retrieved from: web.ebscohost.com on November 23, 2013]

McConnell (G.). “The Conservation Movement: Past and Present” In: The Western Political Quar-

terly, 7 (1954), 3, pp. 463 – 478.

Schullery (P). “A Partnership in Conservation: Roosevelt & Yellowstone” In: Montana: The Mag-

azine of Western History 28 (1978), 3, pp. 2 – 15.

LEGISLATION & SPEECHES

An Act For the preservation of American antiquities. (US Statutes at Large, Volume 34, Part 1,

Chapter 3060, p. 225)

An Act Reserving from the public lands in the State of Oregon, as a public park for the benefit of

the people of the United States, and for the protection and preservation of the game, fish, timber,

and all other natural objects therein, a tract of land herein described, and so forth. (US Statutes

at Large, Volume 32, Part 1, Chapter 820, pp. 202 – 203)

An Act to set apart a certain Tract of Land Lying near the Head-waters of the Yellowstone River

as a public Park. (US Statutes at Large, Volume 17, Chapter 24, pp. 32 – 33)

An Act to set apart certain lands in the State of South Dakota as a public park, to be known as the

Wind Cave National Park (US Statutes at Large, Volume 32, Part 1, Chapter 63, pp. 765 – 766).

Roosevelt (T.). Conservation as National Duty, May 13, 1908 [retrieved from:

http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/ on November 29, 2013]

Roosevelt (T.). First Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1901 [retrieved from:

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu on November 24, 2013]

Page | 13

Roosevelt (T.). Fourth Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 1904 [retrieved from:

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu on November 29, 2013]

Roosevelt (T.). Eighth Annual Message to Congress, December 8, 1908 [retrieved from:

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu on November 29, 2013]

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Brinkley (D.). The Wilderness warrior. Theodore Roosevelt and the crusade for America, New

York (NY), Harper Perennial 2010, XIV + 940 p.

Harbaugh (W.H.). Power and Responsibility: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt, New York

(NY), Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1961, VIII + 568 p.

Orr (O.H.). Saving American Bird: T. Gilbert Pearson and the Founding of the Audubon Movement,

Gainesville (FL), University Press of Florida, 1992, XII + 301 p.

Pinchot (G.). Breaking New Ground, Washington DC, Island Press, 1998, XX + 525 p.

Pinchot (G.). The Fight for Conservation, New York (NY), Doubleday Page and Company, 1910.

[Retrieved from: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11238/11238-h/11238-h.htm#2HCH4 on

November 29, 2013]

WEBSITES

National Park Service

http://www.nps.gov