Teddy and Conservation
Roosevelt held the strong opinion in favor of conservation, and wanted to create an America with nature left for its people to enjoy, which is why he was dead set against corporations developing lands such as Yellowstone.
Official
Theodore Roosevelt's Philosophy of Conservation
"Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us... Moreover, I believe that the natural resources must be used for the benefit of all our people, and not monopolized for the benefit of the few... Of all the questions which can come before this nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us, and training them into a better race to inhabit the land and pass it on. Conservation is a great moral issue, for it involves the patriotic duty of insuring the safety and continuance of the nation."
CONSERVATION LEGACY
4 National Game Preserves 5 National Parks 7 Conservation Conferences 18 National Monuments 24 Reclamation Projects 51 Federal Bird Reservations 150 National Forests 230 Million total acres set aside for the enjoyment of all
"Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us... Moreover, I believe that the natural resources must be used for the benefit of all our people, and not monopolized for the benefit of the few... Of all the questions which can come before this nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us, and training them into a better race to inhabit the land and pass it on. Conservation is a great moral issue, for it involves the patriotic duty of insuring the safety and continuance of the nation."
CONSERVATION LEGACY
4 National Game Preserves 5 National Parks 7 Conservation Conferences 18 National Monuments 24 Reclamation Projects 51 Federal Bird Reservations 150 National Forests 230 Million total acres set aside for the enjoyment of all