Lesson 3
Roosevelt's Legacy: Conservation
Meeting National Standards:
Geography Standard 1: Understand how to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
Geography Standard 5: Understand how human actions modify the physical environment; and understand the changes that occur in the meaning, use distribution, and importance of resources.
Geography Standard 6: Understand how to apply geography to interpret the past.
History Standard 1-A: Explain how Progressives drew upon the American past to develop a notion of democracy responsive to the distinctive needs of an industrial society (Explain historical continuity and change).
Learning Objectives:
- Students become familiar with the scope of TR's contribution to conservation in America.
- Students gain skill in mapping with special attention to designating a variety of items describes in the map key.
- Students explore a variety of viewpoints regarding the use and preservation of resources.
- Students build an argument and support that argument in class presentations.
Introduction:
Many historians consider Theodore Roosevelt's greatest legacy to be his conservation efforts. Natural history and conservation had been a lifelong passion since childhood, including the keeping of boyhood notebooks on Natural History and the creation of a childhood museum, The Roosevelt Museum of Natural History, with artifacts of such superior quality that as an adult exhibits from his boyhood collections were accepted by both the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. As President, TR funded 21 reclamation projects, and established 150 national forests, 51 bird preserves, 4 game preserves, 5 national parks, and 18 national monuments. In addition, Theodore Roosevelt initiated the Newlands Reclamation Act, the Antiquities Act, and founded the Public Lands Commission, the Inland Waterways Commission, the Conference of Governors, the National Conservation Commission, the Country Life Commission, the Joint Conservation Conference, and the North American Conservation Conference. When TR left office as President of the United States, he had planned an international conference on conservation, but Taft rescinded the invitations and the conference never took place.
For more information explore the following TRA website pages: Biography, Time Line, TR's Conservation Legacy, and Quotations.
Lesson 3 Activities:
Make A Map (Option A):
In order to give students a visual tool illustrating TR's achievements in conservation, provide each student with a map of the US (including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico). Using the map key below, have each student fill in the states with letters representing lands/projects set aside by TR.
| Map Key: |
|
| B= Federal Bird Preserve |
F= National Forest |
| G= Federal Game Preserve |
M= National Monument |
| P= National Park |
R= Reclamation Project |
Where projects were located
on the boundaries of two states,
the site is listed in the first state.
| STATE |
Bird
Pres.
|
Nat'l
Forest
|
Game
Pres. |
Nat'l
Mon. |
Nat'l
Park |
Recl.
Proj.
|
| Alaska: |
B=6 |
F=2 |
G=1 |
|
|
|
Arizona:
|
B=1 |
F=12 |
G=1 |
M=5 |
|
R=2 |
Arkansas:
|
|
F=2 |
|
|
|
|
California:
|
B=2 |
F=20 |
|
M=4 |
|
R=2 |
Colorado:
|
|
F=17 |
|
M=1 |
P=1 |
R=1 |
Florida:
|
B=10 |
F=2 |
|
|
|
|
Hawaiian Islands:
|
B=1 |
|
|
|
|
|
Idaho:
|
B=2 |
F=19 |
|
|
|
R=2 |
Kansas:
|
|
F=1 |
|
|
|
|
Louisiana:
|
B=4 |
|
|
|
|
|
Michigan:
|
B=2 |
F=2 |
|
|
|
|
Minnesota:
|
|
F=2 |
|
|
|
|
Montana:
|
B=1 |
F=17 |
G=1 |
M=1 |
|
R=4 |
Nebraska:
|
|
F=1 |
|
|
|
R=1 |
Nevada:
|
|
F=4 |
|
|
|
R=1 |
New Mexico:
|
B=2 |
F=8 |
|
M=3 |
|
R=2 |
North Dakota:
|
B=2 |
F=1 |
|
|
P=1 |
|
Oklahoma:
|
|
F=1 |
G=1 |
|
P=1 |
|
Oregon:
|
B=4 |
F=12 |
|
|
P=1 |
R=1 |
Puerto Rico:
|
B=1 |
F-1 |
|
|
|
|
South Dakota:
|
B=1 |
F=1 |
|
M=1 |
P=1 |
R=1 |
Utah:
|
B=1 |
F=10 |
|
M=1 |
|
R=1 |
Washington:
|
B=8 |
F=8 |
|
M=1 |
|
R=2 |
| Wyoming: |
B=3 |
F=7 |
|
M=1 |
|
R=1 |
| TOTALS |
51 |
150 |
4 |
18 |
5 |
21 |
Make an Edible Map (Option B):
For added fun, create an edible map. Assign students to teams. Each team uses sugar cookie dough and the outline of one of the states listed above (determine a good, estimated uniform size). Before baking, fill in the selected state with M&M's to designate lands/projects set aside by TR: yellow for Federal Bird Preserves; green for National Forests; brown for National Game Preserves; red for National Monuments; orange for National Parks; blue for Reclamation Projects.
When placed side by side to create a full map including the entire west plus Puerto Rico, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Arkansas and Louisiana, students will get a dramatic (and delightful) image of Roosevelt's conservation achievements and a visual marker for 230 million acres. As each team places their state on the map, ask them to provide a Roosevelt quote on conservation. The giant cookie map can be shared with other students in the school, along with a class lunchtime presentation on TR and conservation.
| State |
Bird Preserves |
National Forest
|
Fed. Game Preserve |
National Monument |
National Park |
Reclamation Project |
| Alaska: |
B=6
- Tuxedni
- Behring (Bering) Sea
- Saint Lazaria
- Pribilof
- Yukon Delta
- Bogoslof
|
F=2
|
G=1
|
|
|
|
| Arizona: |
B=1
|
F=12
- Crook
- Prescott
- Coconino
- Tonto
- Chiricahua (AZ & NM)
- Dixie (AZ&UT)
- Coronado
- Sitgreaves
- Garces
- Zuni (AZ & NM)
- Kaibab
- Apache
|
G=1
|
M=5
- Montezuma Castle
- Grand Canyon
- Petrified Forest
- Tumacacori
- Tonto
|
|
R=2
- Salt River
- Yuma (AZ & CA)
|
| Arkansas: |
|
F=2
|
|
|
|
|
| California: |
B=2
|
F=20
- Angeles
- Klamath (CA & OR)
- San Luis
- Modoc
- Santa Barbara
- California
- Crater (CA & OR)
- Mono (CA & NV)
- Inyo
- Shasta
- Stanislaus
- Trinity
- Sierra
- Lassen
- Monterey
- Plumas
- Cleveland
- Tahoe
- Calaveras Bigtree
- Sedquoia
|
|
M=4
- Lassen Park
- Muir Woods
- Cinder Cone
- Pinnacles
|
|
R=2
|
| Colorado: |
|
F=17
- White River
- Pike
- Las Animas (CO & NM)
- Montezuma
- Routt
- Leadville
- Hayden (CO & WY)
- Gunnison
- Medicine Bow
- Cochetopa
- Holy Cross
- Arapaho
- Uncompahgre
- Battlement
- San Juan San
- Isabel
- Rio Grande
|
|
M=1
|
P=1
|
R=1
|
| Florida: |
B=10
- Pelican Island
- Key West
- Passage Key
- Pine Island
- Indian Key
- Matlacha Pass
- Mosquito Key
- Palma Sole
- Tortugas Keys
- Island Bay
|
F=2
|
|
|
|
|
| Hawaiian Islands: |
B=1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Idaho: |
B=2
|
F=19
- Pocatello (ID&UT)
- Idaho
- Cache (ID&UT)
- Payette
- Challis
- Boise
- Salmon
- Sawtooth
- Clearwater
- Lemhi
- Coeur d'Alene
- Targhee (ID & WY)
- Pend d'Orielle
- Bitterroot (ID & MT)
- Kaniksu (ID & WA)
- Caribou (ID & WY)
- Weiser
- Minidoka (ID & UT)
- Nezperce
|
|
|
|
R=2
|
| Kansas: |
|
F=1
|
|
|
|
|
| Louisiana: |
B=4
- Breton Island
- Shell Keys
- Tern Islands
- East Timbalier Island
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Michigan: |
B=2
- Siskiwit Islands
- Huron Islands
|
F=2
|
|
|
|
|
| Montana: |
B=1
|
F=18
- Lolo
- Beaverhead
- Lewis & Clark
- Madison
- Blackfeet
- Gallatin
- Flathead
- Deerlodge
- Kootenai
- Helena
- Cabinet
- Missoula
- Hayden (MT & WY)
- Jefferson
- Beartooth
- Custer
- Absaroka
- Sioux (MT & SD)
|
G=1
|
|
|
R=4
- Milk River
- Huntley
- Lower Yellowstone (MT & ND)
- Sun River
|
| Nebraska: |
|
F=1
|
|
|
|
R=1
|
| Nevada: |
|
F=4
- Humbolt
- Nevada
- Moapa
- Toiyabe
|
|
|
|
R=1
|
New Mexico:
|
B=2
|
F=8
- Manzano
- Datil
- Jemez
- Lincoln
- Pecos
- Alamo
- Gila
- Carson
|
|
M=3
- El Morro
- Gila Cliff Dwellings
- Chaco Canyon
|
|
R=2
|
North Dakota:
|
B=2
|
F=1
|
|
|
P=1
|
|
| Puerto Rico: |
B=1
|
F=1
|
|
|
|
|
| Oklahoma: |
|
F=1
|
G=1
|
|
P=1
|
|
Oregon:
|
B=4
- Three Arch Rocks
- Lake Malheur
- Klamath Lake (OR & CA)
- Cold Springs
|
F=12
- Wenaha (OR & WA)
- Oregon
- Whitman
- Umpqua
- Malheur
- Siskiyou
- Umatilla
- Wallowa
- Siuslaw
- Deschutes
- Cascade
- Fremont
|
|
|
|
|
| South Dakota: |
B=1
|
F=1
|
|
M=1
|
P=1
|
R=1
|
| Utah: |
B=1
|
F=10
- Sevier
- Uinta
- Manti
- Fishlake
- Fillmore
- La Salle
- Nebo
- Wasatch
- Ashley (UT & WY)
- Powell
|
|
M=1
|
|
R=1
|
Washington:
|
B=8
- Flattery Rocks
- Kachess
- Copalis Rock
- Clealum
- Quillayute Needles
- Bumping Lake
- Keechelus
- Conconully
|
F=8
- Colville
- Washington
- Olympic
- Chelan
- Columbia
- Snoqualmie
- Rainier
- Wenatchee
|
|
M=1
|
|
R=2
|
Wyoming:
|
B=3
- Loch-Katrine
- Shoshone
- Pathfinder
|
F=7
- Sundance
- Bonneville
- Cheyenne
- Shoshone
- Teton Bighorn
- Wyoming
|
|
M=1
|
|
R=1
|
Rethinking the American West
While many historians discuss the effect of technology (industrialization) and population shifts (urbanization) on America at the dawn of the 20th century, less attention has been given to the effects of technology and population on the American West. But as a former rancher and active hunter, Theodore Roosevelt saw first-hand the effects of humanity on the changing face of the American West. Manifest Destiny was a reality and historians bemoaned the death of the frontier. In building his conservation policies, Roosevelt kept before him an American frontier ideal while addressing the realities of the changing face of the west. What TR witnessed was the over-cutting of forests, over-grazing by herds, efforts to control water sources, the dramatic decrease in animal populations (dramatically personified by the near-extinction of the buffalo), mounting violence between open-range proponents vs. ranchers who wanted to fence their property, the movement of Indian populations onto reservations, the expansion of mining and timber industries, and the rapid expansion of railroads bringing to an end the dramatic cattle drives of the past and building or destroying communities with the selection of railroad routes.
Ask students to select a position
- a western rancher concerned with water rights, free-range grazing, and the potential with the coming of the railroad of selling logging or mineral rights or
- a conservationist who supports Roosevelt's goals for reclamation and setting aside extensive public lands for future generations.
Students should carefully build a case to support their argument. Select several student "ranchers" and several student "conservationists" to reenter the early twentieth century by debating the issue of land use. Students may wish to dress in period costumes. Allow the rest of the class to judge the presentations.