Theodore Roosevelt on Conservation

On Wilderness and the American Spirit

Contrary to the opinion of many people, there is no more important factor in the development of the nation than the development of its natural resources. There are not enough reserves of coal, oil, and timber in the world, and they must be kept with the same care as we would keep any other valuable possession.

Roosevelt rejected the false choice between development and preservation. The nation could have both—but only if natural resources were treated as finite assets requiring careful stewardship, not infinite commodities to be exhausted.

The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources now as they should be treated. It should pass on these sources of wealth, these material resources that come from America, to our descendants with the same care that we would pass on our homes.

This concept of intergenerational responsibility was revolutionary for its time. Roosevelt insisted that preserving nature for future generations was not sentiment—it was moral obligation and practical necessity.

On Public Lands and the Common Good

The natural resources of the nation must be developed and preserved for the benefit of all the people, and not monopolized for the benefit of the few.

Roosevelt fought fiercely against privatization of public lands. National parks, forests, and monuments were held in trust for all Americans—rich and poor, present and future.

I have always believed that wise use of the land and water, wise use of forests and minerals, wise use of the public domain—and by "wise use" I mean for the greatest good to the greatest number—is in the long run the most efficient and economical policy.

His conservation principle was democratic and utilitarian at once. Not all land should be preserved untouched, but all should be managed for the long-term benefit of the American people as a whole.

On the Relationship Between Humanity and Nature

In every civilized nation, those places which possess peculiar beauty or historical interest, or which show scenic features in their highest development, are set apart and preserved by the nation for the benefit of all the people. We do this partly from sentimental reasons, and partly for the excellent reason that the contemplation of nature, under forms of great beauty and grandeur, is a necessary part of a complete life.

Roosevelt understood something that is easily forgotten: access to natural beauty is not a luxury for the wealthy, but a necessity for human flourishing. National parks and public lands democratize access to nature's finest works.

I have no sympathy with the sentimental attitude of those who think that any action of man is a degradation upon nature. But I have every sympathy with the wise use of nature for the benefit of all men.

Roosevelt was no romantic preservationist. He believed in hunting, in timber harvesting, in mining—but all conducted responsibly and sustainably.

On Wildlife Protection

When I discovered that we were killing off our wildlife with no thought for the future, I set myself to see what could be done. The herds have been brought back from the verge of extinction. The wild creatures of this land are not ours to do with as we please. We have merely the usufruct of the land. We owe obligations to the generation which will come after us and audit our accounts.

Roosevelt personally hunted and revered hunting as both sport and conservation tool. But he refused to allow species to be hunted to extinction. He established wildlife refuges and worked to restore herds that had been nearly wiped out.

A nation can be judged by how it treats its animals.

This principle guided his actions: the strength of a civilization shows in its treatment of the vulnerable and voiceless.

On Legacy and Future Generations

I want to see the day when there will be a complete and untrammeled conservation of our natural resources—forests, waters, wildlife, and lands. It may take some time, but the work must be done.

Roosevelt understood that conservation is never finished. Each generation must recommit itself to the work. More than a century later, that remains true.

The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life.

Roosevelt placed conservation at the center of national policy because he saw it as foundational. Everything else—economic prosperity, security, liberty—depended on having a living, fertile land to sustain it all.

On Forests and the Future

We have become great in a material sense 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, and the oil are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, clogging the beds and obstructing navigation.

Roosevelt was asking questions in the early twentieth century that remain urgent more than a hundred years later. He understood that a nation could not indefinitely extract natural resources without consequence. Deforestation, resource depletion, soil degradation—these were not merely abstract environmental concerns to Roosevelt, they were threats to the nation's future prosperity and security. A nation that exhausted its natural inheritance was a nation that was consuming its future for present gain.

On the National Parks and Public Access to Beauty

The national parks and national reserves are national properties. By law they belong to the people. No private person should be allowed to interfere with them. The government must protect them and must make them accessible to all citizens—to the poor man as well as to the rich man, to the woman and child as well as to the man.

Roosevelt's commitment to public access to natural beauty was grounded in his conviction that a complete life required experience of natural grandeur. The wealthy could always travel to wild places and camp under the stars. The ordinary worker needed public lands set aside and protected for that person's own access to nature's beauty and restorative powers.

On Hunting and Conservation Working Together

I believe in hunting. I believe in the pursuit of game birds and big game. But I believe in it only insofar as it is compatible with the preservation of the species and the perpetuation of our hunting heritage for future generations. The hunter who kills game without thought for the future is the enemy of his own sport.

Roosevelt understood that hunting and conservation need not be in opposition. A hunter has the strongest interest in preserving wildlife—without preserved game populations, there is no hunting future. So Roosevelt established wildlife refuges, worked to restore depleted species, and established conservation policies that allowed hunting to continue within a framework of sustainable use.