A grassy meadow lays forthward from what could hardly be considered a light-brown dirt trail in which thousands of outdoorsmen have tread. The meadow with ever-growing, copious amounts of biodiverse plants, grass, and tiny polonization-ready flowers of nature’s yellow, baby blue, and pure white. The meadow slopes down ever so slightly, not enough to roll down, but enough that one could see the small river that is flowing southward. Beyond the meadow lie grandiose mountains with white peaks. The air is fresh – as fresh as it could be in the current year; the breath of it could revitalize the most sickly kind and, from within the lungs to the heart, could an indescribable feeling take over. A feeling that no office or city could ever provide someone. A breath of life.
It was of utmost importance to former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to preserve the luscious and special nature that made the United States of America worth fighting for. From a young age, Roosevelt was an avid outdoorsman with a knack for everything related to bugs, birds, animal anatomy, and hunting. The fact that he was raised in New York City, given a top-tier education in which only “high society” members were able to achieve, and was avidly lived in urban environments did not waver his understanding of why nature is so vitally important to our nation and the world.
It is not to say that Roosevelt was a president hyper-focused on environmentalist subjects, but one who built a very significant understanding of the environment for the American people; how special it is, sacred, important, and patriotic even to preserve natural and virgin lands.
The harsh truth is, a home that lacks sustained nature and landscapes that thrive in the image of a properly managed environment is not a home worth fighting for. Some would say that people are who our armies fight for, while that is true, it would be pressing for one to fight and advocate for a home that lacks the essentials of what makes the Earth worth living on in the very first place. One wouldn’t hold as much patriotism for a country that is nothing but dust and environmentally starving landscapes, similar to something seen in an apocalyptic film.
Theodore Roosevelt and his administration are largely responsible for the creation of the national parks of the U.S. Parks that are federally protected with public access and preserve hundreds of thousands of acres of unique North American forests, meadows, mountains, mammals, insects, amphibians, reptiles, and rock formations.
Roosevelt specifically signed legislation throughout 1901 to 1909, establishing the following national parks: Crater Lake, Oregon; Wind Cave, South Dakota; Sullys Hill, North Dakota; Mesa Verde, Colorado; and Platt, Oklahoma. Furthermore, the later Antiquities Act of 1906 made it so that future U.S. presidents could proclaim landmarks, historic and prehistoric sites, and other plots of land significant to federal ownership of national land. (National Park Service).
A precedent was set, and since then, many countries in South America, Europe, and Asia have established national parks; amounting to around 100 total countries. The top countries with the most national parks as of 2024 include the following: Australia (685), Thailand (156), India (116), Russia (112), Brazil (75), Mexico (67), and the United States (61). Conclusively, the National Park system is Roosevelt’s legacy.
National Parks are so important because they act as a knight in shining armor against a world that has gone full industrialist. Pre-industrialism, the Earth had more open, public, free-range, and explorable land. A boom of urbanization had not yet happened, and the world’s human landscapes were predominantly rural, agricultural, and non-complex town structures. National parks protect a world that has not yet been fully touched by industrialization, and preserves virgin lands.
Furthermore, Roosevelt’s life stressed the importance of being in nature, and holding a society of people who could find a healthy balance between scholarly, dormant activities and using physical movement in the once-in-a-lifetime mountains, forests, meadows, and landscapes that belong to our beautiful world.
As of 2026, the Trump administration aims to roll back protections that help maintain hundreds of thousands of acres of federal public lands. In an effort to reindustrialize American soil, the current administration set its sights on mining and resource extraction of national lands that have been protected for the public for nearly a century.
Rolling back protections is a mistake.
As a nation, the national parks are one of the most significant parts of the country’s culture. On the national stage, America is known for its national parks. Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite; these are staples of who we are as a country. According to DW News, in 2024, the parks broke their record number of visitors with a total of 332 million people visiting the national parks. Nearby communities combined made a profit of a total of 29 billion dollars. And in 2025, a YouGov research poll showed that 69% of Americans strongly disagreed with the decision to roll back protections on National Parks. To build upon, it is of utmost importance that the U.S. government does not squander the legacy of a great, Republican-liberal president who trailblazed conservationist ideals and set up a post against governmental corruption. These parks are a defining feature of North America, not just the U.S. Citizens and immigrants alike avidly participate and benefit from the use of these public lands.
First and foremost, relating to this topic, the current administration denied decades worth of significant environmental science development and research by revoking an endangerment finding that stated that carbon dioxide emissions are a leading cause of climate change. With this, it made it unnecessary for the U.S. to put limits on CO2 emissions, simultaneously opening the doors to coal mining, oil development, and increased industrial production. (Wyoming Public Media).
According to an article from the Center for American Progress, the government has reopened claims for rock and coal mining on a massive scale. 3,700 mining claims within national park borders and, nationwide, 490,000 existing mining claims on public lands. Some of which the current administration has already begun to approve.
This is cause for concern for any community and state of people that value outdoor recreation, activity, and experience due to the negative implications this will have on the environment. These operations will result in mining pollution (dust, air toxicity contribution), oil/coal mining CO2 emissions, loss of sacred land to industrialization, lessened air quality, logging, and rock mining. This is an era-long battle that has been fought from the very beginning of the Industrial Revolution to the current day. Industrialists versus naturalists.
The Lorax had warned against rampant resource mining; and reaping the consequences of corrupt business practices. When the last tree was cut in the film, the last thread was made. And only then did people realize that they can not reap what they can not sow. Once you run out of a finite resource, you can not bring it back.
Roosevelt helped to find the fine line between the two opposing ideals. A man who was in tune with the city and the mountains. A man who was strong-hearted, heartily worded, and caring for humanitarian issues.
In the current stage of American politics, we are in a drought of quality political figures who can guide a nation of both Republican and Democratic masses. An environment of animosity has been created from decades of bicameral war between the two major parties. We have cultivated a system that no longer values the standards that once made good, intelligent, well-worded, and concise presidents. Now, it is about who has the limelight, who speaks the loudest, and whose side has the media’s attention.
Roosevelt aimed to be a man who would bring down “machine” politics. Where government officials only work for the benefit of their party rather than the mutual interests of all the American people. He wished to change the political landscape and become an official who was clinical and rational in his decisions without taking one side’s wishes or the other.
In his early career, he spent much of his time in New York State legislation fighting against corrupt, machine politicians. He first-hand witnessed bribery, nepotism, and bias in government practice, wishing only to maintain honor, honesty, and transparency.
“It was a good thing to have dabbled in reform, but ‘now was the time to leave politics and identify… with the right kind of people.’ Roosevelt asked if that meant he was to yield to corruptionists. His uncle replied irritably that there would always be an ‘inner circle’ of corporate executives, politicians, lawyers, and judges to ‘control others and obtain the real rewards.’ Roosevelt never forgot those words. ‘It was the first glimpse I had of that combination between business and politics which I was in after years so often to oppose.’”
An excerpt from The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris.
Secondarily, this isn’t entirely about the preservation of virgin forests, although that is a huge part; the problem lies within the taking back of an act that has proved beneficial since its conception. The U.S. government, in an obvious attempt to reconcile economic downfall, is using a severely outdated General Mining Act of 1872, a non-progressive and hurtful act.
The Mining Act of 1872 states that federal law can authorize resource mining on federal public lands. The act was created by prospectors from Nevada and California during the Gold Rush, and it was made during a time with significantly decreased environmental issues. The severity of mining and ramped resource extraction had not yet dawned upon the people during the late 1800s, and now, with extensive research and simultaneously reaping the negative effects of rampant mining, we can see how out of touch using this act is in America’s current state.
In a time of ecosystem vulnerability and economic distress for the world, let alone America, solving each problem without hurting the other is vital in maintaining progressive movement. Roosevelt taught America not to abandon nature for industrial purposes, and also to care deeply about the people’s problems.
Roosevelt expressed a very serious stance on the mind and body. One that is representative of combining human scholars and interaction with nature. The mind is nothing without the body, and the body must be used physically and in nature to have a sharp mind. Roosevelt is praised, like many other presidents and great figures throughout history, for having an incredible mind; one that possessed the ability to learn at great lengths and speeds, and that could write and function clinically when faced with the problems of his country. On top of this, he possessed an extreme willpower and vitality despite his early developmental challenges with asthma and various sicknesses.
Conclusively, Roosevelt is rolling in his grave at the current state of American conservationist activity — or lack thereof.