Theodore Roosevelt His Conservation Efforts

Theodore Roosevelt and His Conservation Efforts

In this paper, I have discussed the presidential efforts of Theodore Roosevelt regarding the conservation of natural resources in the United States of America. I have included details of the works done under his presidency concerning the environment preservation. In the last, I have insisted readers to hold this American president in the highest regard for his conservation efforts.

In the American history, Theodore Roosevelt is remembered as the first president of United States who made it the central governmental function to conserve the natural resources of the country. For the reason that he had an exceptional scientific understanding from an earlier age and latest knowledge of wildlife and history of nature, Roosevelt turned out to be the father of the contemporary conservation movement (Gurney 59).

Immediately after taking the office as President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt made a start to encourage the American citizens to realize that it could be disastrous if the consumption and exploitation and utilization of the natural resources present in the country goes unchecked. Leroy G. Dorsey puts the situation at that time in these words that the President Roosevelt "saw the environment under siege. At the time, one-half of the country's timber had been cut, with the annual use rate at four times the new growth rate. . . . Wasteful mining methods wreaked havoc as well. . . . Finally, animals such as the heath hen, buffalo, fur seal, passenger pigeon, alligator, elk, bear, and bighorn sheep were either wiped out or neared extinction due to profit-minded hunters" (as qtd. In Sheffield 93).

This situation was an alarming one for Roosevelt as he observed his dear motherland to convert into a wasteland with inhospitable surroundings, harsh environment and wilderness. Not only this, Roosevelt also managed to identify and highlight the potential economic consequences in case of the exhaustion of country's resources. He even raised the issue of potential economic outcomes during his messages to Congress that held on a yearly basis. He insisted that the failure to conserve the natural environment resources may lead to calamitous and dreadful economic consequences to the whole nation (Sheffield 93).

From the time Roosevelt's administration began to take responsibility to nation's service, he made Pinchot his close consultant and thus the conservation of national resources turned out to be the major part of Roosevelt's political schema. According to Roosevelt, the running down of the natural resources present in the country was one of the most imperative issues. Observing the whole scenario, he concluded that the continuation of the expenditure of resources without considering conservation strategies would eventually result in destruction of the environment in no time. In his addresses to Congress as well, Roosevelt time and again insisted the importance of conservation as a healthy practice to save the country from economic crisis. According to this nature-lover, the usage of all the forests and the flora and fauna they contained could deprive the country of an exceptionally important resource. Thus, Roosevelt was deeply anxious regarding the long-term welfare and interests of the nation. Due to such thoughts, he considered the land as an outstanding natural and economic resource that deserved to protected, preserved and managed. Such steps were necessary for the solidarity of the nation, both politically and economically (Sheffield 95).

According to Roosevelt, his conservation of natural resources was an equivalent of behaving in a moral manner. Roosevelt loved nature since his childhood. Thus, it is not a surprising thing that after coming to the office as President of the United States of America, one of his top preferences was dedicated towards the conservation of the natural resources in the country. Thus, he took off with his team and was able to conserve the natural environment of the country in innumerable ways. As the President, Roosevelt kept an eye on the founding of 4 national parks. In 1906, Roosevelt signed Antiquities Act after which the President was endowed the power to allocate national monuments without asking the Congress to approve first. Consequently, eighteen monuments were personally designated by Roosevelt out of which 4 are national parks at present times (Sheffield 89).

Roosevelt, however, was not contented with the setting aside of land to serve the purpose of providing enjoyment and recreational activities to the American citizens. Thus, he shifted his focus towards the forests in the country which were being rapidly consumed by the American population. Therefore, due to his constant recommendation, the United States Forest Service was established by the Congress. The honesty and dedication behind Roosevelt's conservation efforts is evident from the fact that "by the end of his presidency, Roosevelt's administration had created over forty-two million acres of national forest land, to be managed for the common good by the U.S. government" (Sheffield 89). It can be said that this approach of treating the civic land as a resource to be supervised instead of exploitation proved to be the core of Roosevelt's policy regarding conservation and preservation of the natural resources (Sheffield 89).

In addition to the above-mentioned efforts, Roosevelt also committed himself to preserve the natural sumptuousness and dignity of the national parks. Moreover, he made the expansion of the system sure for protecting the endangered areas. He also supervised the establishment of fifty-one wildlife refuges national forests, numbering one hundred and fifty (Powell). In addition to all the mentioned efforts to conserve the natural resources of the country, Roosevelt also made efforts to manage "the interconnected streams and rivers that depended on the "great sponge" upstream" (Gurney 61) in a scientific manner.

Roosevelt's administration can thus be considered as the best when it comes to conservation efforts as under his excellent supervision, there was more or less one hundred and thirty million acres of land that grew under the forest system. Taken together, the federal protection was made bigger to 230 million acres of land under his administration. Moreover, in 1907, the Inland Waterways Commission was appointed by the nature-loving president. In 1908, he also appointed National Conservation Commission in 1908. The major purposes of the two mentioned appointments were "to inventory the existing natural resources of the nation, especially forests and rivers, and make recommendations for managing them for the public bene-t" (Gurney 61). Even though the opponents of Roosevelt in Congress made endeavors to put a halt to the foundation of such commissions, they were foiled by President Roosevelt when he asked for the nonfederal money to be used for the printing and distribution of the reports (Gurney 61).