Protect and Conserve

When Theodore Roosevelt became president of the United States in 1901, he used the power of the federal government to support an important movement in the Progressive Era: the protection of America’s natural resources.

- Laura Phillips

For most of the 1800s, moving westward and settling the nation’s western territory had been important to the growth of the United States. In that century, the nation seemed to have a limitless supply of natural resources. Large industries in lumber, mining, and hunting were established. Those businesses benefited from unchecked access to those resources. By the late 1800s, however, wasteful practices threatened to destroy the nation’s unique places and the wildlife and plants native to them. Environmentalists worried that the country’s natural spaces were disappearing.

As a sportsman who appreciated the wilderness, Roosevelt was greatly concerned. In May 1903, Roosevelt went camping for four days with John Muir in California’s Yosemite National Park. As they hiked and camped, the two men shared their ideas about America’s natural places.

Muir had spent decades living in and writing about the country’s unique wild places. He believed that people needed the wilderness to visit in order to renew their spirits. He wanted the land to be left alone, without any human interference. He called his plan “preservation.”