Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far.
T.R.'s love of Nature
Theodore Roosevelt
"There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country."
- Confession of Faith Speech, Progressive National Convention, Chicago, IL, August 6, 1912
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
Books about T.R.'s
passion for Nature
Theodore Roosevelt : Naturalist and Conservationist Pictures
T.R. with John Burroughs
T.R. with John Muir at Glacier Point, Yosemite
T.R. at Sequoia
T.R. at Mammoth Hot Springs
T.R. at Breton Island, Louisiana
T.R. at Big Tree Grove in Santa Cruz, California
T.R. ready to see Yellowstone
T.R. at Oyster Bay, New York
T.R. at Oyster Bay, New York
T.R. at Oyster Bay, New York
T.R. at Oyster Bay, New York
The Roosevelt Arch at Yellowstone National Park
T.R. at Jacob's Ladder in the Grand Canyon
T.R. at Oyster Bay, New York
T.R. at Sagamore Hill
T.R. at Oyster Bay, New York
Taking a break from the hunt: T.R. in his second favorite pastime
T.R., lover of dogs
T.R. at Oyster Bay, New York
T.R. with Arch Hoxsey; the first President to fly in an airplane
T.R. enjoying the chuck wagon fare with the boys
T.R. with Arch Hoxsey; the first President to fly in an airplane
T.R. at the Grand Canyon
Courtesy: Dept. of the Interior, NPS Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center
T.R. at the Roosevelt Arch dedication, Yellowstone National Park
Courtesy: Dept. of the Interior, NPS Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center
T.R. with Capt. Pitcher and Secret Service Guards at entrance to Yellowstone
Courtesy: Dept. of the Interior, NPS Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center
T.R. with Capt. Pitcher at Yellowstone
Courtesy: Dept. of the Interior, NPS Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center
T.R. with Capt. Pitcher at Mammoth Terraces, Yellowstone
Courtesy: Dept. of the Interior, NPS Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center
T.R. at Yellowstone National Park
Courtesy: Dept. of the Interior, NPS Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center
T.R. at the entrance to Yosemite Valley
Courtesy: Dept. of the Interior, NPS Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center
T.R. with masons watching the laying of the north entrance arch cornerstone at Yellowstone
Courtesy: Dept. of the Interior, NPS Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center
T.R. at Wawona Tree, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park
Courtesy: Dept. of the Interior, NPS Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center
T.R. and Boy Scouts on the lawn of Sagamore Hill
Courtesy: Dept. of the Interior, NPS Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center
T.R. descending Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon
T.R. at Lookout Mountain in Tennessee
T.R. in Colorado enjoying the chuck-wagon BBQ
T.R. and Gifford Pinchot, Chief of U.S. Forest Service
T.R. in Florida : Harpooning the Devilfish at Boca Ciega Bay, St. Petersburg, Florida (photo: Scribner's via Google Books)
T.R. in Florida : Harpooning the Devilfish at Boca Ciega Bay, St. Petersburg, Florida (photo: Scribner's via Google Books)
T.R. in Florida : Harpooning the Devilfish at Boca Ciega Bay, St. Petersburg, Florida (photo: Scribner's via Google Books)
T.R. in Florida : Harpooning the Devilfish at Boca Ciega Bay, St. Petersburg, Florida (photo: Scribner's via Google Books)
T.R. in Florida : Harpooning the Devilfish at Boca Ciega Bay, St. Petersburg, Florida (photo: Scribner's via Google Books)
T.R. in Florida : Harpooning the Devilfish at Boca Ciega Bay, St. Petersburg, Florida (photo: Scribner's via Google Books)
Theodore Roosevelt and spearfishing guide, Russell J. Colio, at Boca Ciega Bay, St. Petersburg, Florida (Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System)
Theodore Roosevelt enjoying an outdoor lunch in Coloado
Theodore Roosevelt at Hanging Bridge, Royal Gorge, Colorado
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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."
- Speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, on August 31, 1910
Champion of Conservation
"Optimism is a good characteristic, but if carried to an excess, it becomes foolishness. We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so."
- Seventh Annual Message to Congress
December 3, 1907
"The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method."
- A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open, 1916
NATIONAL PARKS
"All the great natural resources which are vital to the welfare of the whole people
should be kept either in the hands or under the control of the whole people."
- Theodore Roosevelt, published in the magazine The Outlook on April 20, 1912.
 Crater Lake Oregon May 22, 1902 Congressional Bill PDF |
 Wind Cave South Dakota January 9, 1903 Congressional Bill PDF |
 Sully's Hill North Dakota June 2, 1904 |
 Platt National Park Oklahoma June 29, 1906 |
 Mesa Verde Colorado June 29, 1906 Congressional Bill PDF |
NATIONAL MONUMENTS
"In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which, so far as I know, is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. Keep this great wonder of nature as it is. You can not improve it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it."
- Theodore Roosevelt, impromptu speech at Grand Canyon on May 6, 1903.
NATIONAL GAME PRESERVES
"This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we
make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in."
- Theodore Roosevelt, speech at Chicago, IL, June 17, 1912.
FEDERAL BIRD RESERVATIONS
51 Federal Bird Reservations were created by Theodore RooseveltDownload PDF of the list of bird reservations
For additional information, please visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Read about the history of Pelican Island
T.R.'s Letters to John Muir
Read Theodore Roosevelt's several papers about birds and ornithology:
1877 - The Summer Birds of the Adirondacks in Franklin County, New York
1879 - Notes on Some of the Birds of Oyster Bay, New York
1908 - Notes on Some Birds on the grounds of The White House, Washington, D.C.
1910 - English Songbirds
1916 - The Bird Refuges of Louisiana, Scribner's Magazine
Complete list of Roosevelt's Bird Specimens at The Smithsonian Institution
(list courtesy of Smithsonian Institution; please contact the Division of Birds directly concerning use of the data)
NATIONAL FORESTS
150 National Forests were created by Theodore RooseveltSorted by Date Created
Sorted by State
RECLAMATION PROJECTS
24 Reclamation Projects were created by Theodore RooseveltDownload PDF of the projects
For additional information, please visit the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
CONSERVATION CONFERENCES
7 Conservation Conferences were hosted by Theodore RooseveltDownload PDF describing the conferences
T.R.'s speech at the opening session of May 13, 1908 conference
Support the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
SPEECHES REGARDING NATIONAL PARKS & MONUMENTS
Yellowstone National Park Gateway; April, 24, 1903 "... a veritable wonderland..."Grand Canyon; May 6, 1903, "... leave it as it is... man can only mar it..."
T.R. on Birds
"Birds should be saved for utilitarian reasons; and, moreover, they should be saved because of reasons unconnected with dollars and cents.
A grove of giant redwoods or sequoias should be kept just as we keep a great and beautiful cathedral. The extermination of the passenger-pigeon
meant that mankind was just so much poorer.... And to lose the chance to see frigate-birds soaring in circles above the storm, or a file of
pelicans winging their way homeward across the crimson afterglow of the sunset,
or a myriad of terns flashing in the bright light of midday as they hover in a shifting maze above the beach-why, the loss is like the loss
of a gallery of the masterpieces of the artists of old time."
- A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open (1916).