On this date in 1952, the public was invited to a tree planting ceremony on the state capitol grounds at Bismarck. The Washington, DC Evening Star reported that North Dakotans were dedicating a tree by the Senate entrance to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Reclamation Law sponsored by Senator Henry Hansbrough. Members of the North Dakota congressional delegation and their staff participated in the ceremony.
Hansbrough was a key co-author and proponent of the National Reclamation Act of 1902, which set aside money from the sale of public lands in 16 arid western states including North Dakota to fund irrigation projects, dams, and canals. He believed that federal investment would relieve water scarcity in the west and foster economic growth for small-scale farming versus large-scale, opulent landowners.
The act led to massive projects, such as those that transformed over 40,000 acres of North Dakota prairie into farmland. The idea had previously been advanced by Theodore Roosevelt, a prodigious sport hunter and wealthy landowner in Dakota Territory who became known as the Conservation President. Ironically, water retention projects destroyed key river corridor ecosystems, wildlife habitat and Indigenous gardening and cultural sites.
During his presidency, Roosevelt established around 230 million acres of public lands between 1901 and 1909, including 150 national forests, the first 55 federal bird reservation and game preserves, 5 national parks, and the first 18 national monuments. In 1905, Roosevelt created the U.S. Forest Service with Gifford Pinchot as its first Chief Forester. Pinchot’s acute eye for habitat helped add critical forests and wilderness areas.
An avid ornithologist, Roosevelt began an ongoing experiment to carve out habitat for wildlife by creating what would become the National Wildlife Refuge System on March 14, 1903.
Dakota datebook by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- North Dakotans Plan Tree Dedication Today. The Evening Star, Washington, DC, April 29, 1952, Page 19
- The Bismarck Daily Tribune, November 17, 1908, Page 2
- Newlands Reclamation Act. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newlands_Reclamation_Act
- Arizona Memory Project. State of Arizona Research Library. Henry Clay Hansbrough, North Dakota Senator and Co-Author of the National Reclamation Act. https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/86778#:~:text=FAQsCONTACT%20US-,Henry%20Clay%20Hansbrough%2C%20North%20Dakota%20Senator%20and%20Co%2DAuthor%20of,320;%20320.JPG%5D.
- About Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) The Conservation President. https://www.fws.gov/staff-profile/theodore-roosevelt-1858-1919-conservation-president
- National Geographic: Revisiting the tangled legacy of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/theodore-roosevelt-national-park-examining-a-complicated-legacy
