Theodore Roosevelt: the Great Environmentalist

This Paper will outline President Theodore Roosevelt’s role in helping to


  conserve


  our environment during his administration (1901-1909). It will also examine


  his theory of


  a stronger American democracy through environmental conservationism.


 


 


          “The movement for the conservation of wildlife, and the larger movement for


          the conservation of all our natural resources, are essentially democratic in


          spirit, purpose, and method.” (Roosevelt 274)


 


 


          As president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt made conservation a


  central


  policy issue of his administration. He created five National Parks, four Big


  Game


  Refuges, fifty-one National bird Reservations, and the National Forest


  Service. Roosevelt


  advocated for the sustainable use of the nation's natural resources, the


  protection and


  management of wild game, and the preservation of wild spaces. Considering


  America's


  landscape to be the source of American wealth and the American character,


  Roosevelt


  believed conservationism was a democratic movement necessary to maintain and


  to


  strengthen American democracy.


          Roosevelt recognized America's vast natural resources as the source of the


  country's


  economic wealth and subsequent political strength globally. The abundance of


  land,


  timber, waterways, and mineral deposits fueled the continuing expansion of


  American


  industry. In a speech addressed to a national conference on conservation held


  at the White


  House in 1908, Roosevelt stated, "Our position in the world has been attained


  by the


  extent and thoroughness of the control we have achieved over nature; but we


  are more,


  and not...