Theodore Roosevelt thrived on so many aspects of life that it’s difficult to classify his favorite projects. But certainly, the preservation of wildlife and the natural world were foremost in his passions.
He addressed his favor with the natural world in much of his writing as well as in his 1913 autobiography, which included a short and partial compilation of his efforts to improve and protect nature.
“Even more important was the taking of steps to preserve from destruction beautiful and wonderful wild creatures whose existence was threatened by greed and wantonness. During my seven-and-one-half years, more was accomplished for the protection of wildlife in the United States than during all the previous years, excepting only the creation of Yellowstone National Park. The record includes the creation of five National Parks, including Sullys Hill North Dakota, four big game refuges, fifty-one bird reservations, and the enactment of laws for the protection of wild life in Alaska, the District of Columbia, and on national bird reserves. The enactment of the first game laws for the territory of Alaska … putting an end to the slaughter of deer along its southern coast. The securing of the first appropriation for the preservation of buffalo and the establishment in Yellowstone National Park of the first and now largest herd belonging to the government. The passage of the act creating the first of the National game preserves. The passage of the American Monuments Act … under which a number of objects … have been preserved for all time. The establishment of the National Bison Range in Montana … The order protecting birds on the Niobrara Military Reservation … the 51 National Bird Reservations in 17 states and territories. And making three-fourths of the environs of the National Capital within the District of Columbia in effect a National Refuge.”
Dakota Datebook: Remembering Theodore Roosevelt is written and performed by Steve Stark. Funding provided by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation.
