Teddy Roosevelt and the Conservation of Environmental Resources

It’s the birthday of Theodore Roosevelt, most remembered for his role in conservation, i.e., his activism in preserving the natural environment.  Per The Writer’s Almanac:

During his presidency, (Roosevelt ) provided protection for almost 230 million acres of land, creating 150 national forests and five national parks. In 1908, he gave a speech at the Conference on the Conservation of Natural Resources, saying: “We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources and we have just reason to be proud of our growth. 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 have been still further impoverished and washed into the streams […] It is time for us now as a nation to exercise the same reasonable foresight in dealing with our great natural resources that would be shown by any prudent man in conserving and wisely using the property which contains the assurance of well-being for himself and his children.”

One can only wonder in disgust how Roosevelt would respond to our modern world.  Only 4% of the forests that were here when the settlers arrived still exist; what might he think of that?

Of course, we need to thank him for his work, in particular, for his attempt to instill in all Americans the notion that we do not have an unlimited right to pillage environmental resources for our immediate pleasure.  Although he was by no means completely successful in this regard, one shudders to think of what this land would look like now had his powerful presence not been here a century ago.