THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Theodore Roosevelt: The Conservative as Progressive

Theodore Roosevelt: The Conservative as Progressive

Summary

In this section of the paper the summary of the chapter 9 will be presented. Inspiration for the Conservation Movement comes from a long stream of American thought that is itself contradictory (Hofstadter, 1989). The movement often has been viewed as being at odds with the predominant political economy built on what Morris Udall called the myth of superabundance, alongside deeply held values of individualism, private property, utilitarianism, limitless growth, and constant progress.

Although early-19th-century writers such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as artists such as George Catlin and John James Audubon, were nurturing a love of nature and the land in our cultural heritage, the country was moving forward with its Industrial Revolution, which built cities, factories, transportation networks, and tremendous wealth for some, while permanently altering both the rural and urban landscapes and the relationship of people to the land. In fact, according to Udall, historic evidence strongly suggests that many early Americans found the land hostile and were themselves hostile toward the land, interested only in using the land to create personal wealth.

On the eve of the Civil War, large-scale commercial timbering spread across the forested hills and valleys of the eastern United States. When George Perkins Marsh published Man and Nature in 1864, he issued an early warning about the state of the nation's natural resource base. By the 1870s, scientific consciousness emerged about the need to scientifically manage forests to ensure a future wood supply for the rapidly growing economy; these studies also noted relationships between forests and water and air quality (Hofstadter, 1989).

The Conservation Movement's scientific origins come partly from Europe's forestry practices, which date from the mid-1700s. The founding of the American Forestry Association in 1875 and its merger with the new American Forestry Congress in 1882 signaled a national, well-organized voice for forest management that underpinned the nascent Conservation Movement.

Throughout the 19th century, the federal government recognized the need to deal with natural resources in the face of demands from growing population and industries. The quality of the legislation was often problematic: Enforcement was uneven because of limited political will and the growing political and economic hegemony of major corporations dedicated to large-scale natural resources extraction, especially after the Civil War. Significant federal legislation included the Federal Timber Research Act (1817), Timber Trespass Act (1831), U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and Land Grant colleges (1862), Mineral Land Act (1865), Yellowstone National Park (1872), Timber Culture Act (1873), U.S. Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry (1876), Desert Land Act (1877), Timber and Stone Act and Timber Cutting Act (1878), Yosemite National Park (1890), Forest Reserve Act (1891), and Organic Act (Sundry Civil Appropriations Act), which set out guidelines for a national forest system (1897) (Hofstadter, 1989).

Muir countered predominant political and economic values and was closer to the philosophies of Thoreau and Emerson. Because of his opposition to growth, Muir's views were rooted in protest; by seeking to maintain untrammeled wilderness, ...