Theodore Roosevelt: The Conservation Of Our National Parks

The Conservation of Our National Parks

"We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune” (“Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation”), once said Theodore Roosevelt. A New York governor, who became the 26th U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt is remembered for his foreign policy, corporate reforms and ecological preservation. Roosevelt has also been deemed the country's first environmentalist president. In 1906, he signed the National Monuments Act, protecting sites like the Grand Canyon and preserving countless wildlife sanctuaries, national forests and federal game reserves. He also made headway with the nation’s infrastructure,

In today’s economy, the greatest value of natural amenities and recreation opportunities often lies in the ability of protected lands to attract and retain people, entrepreneurs, their businesses, and the growing number of retirees who move there for quality of life reasons. Protected public lands such as national parks can play an important economic role for local communities. “When the spending at local and regional parks is combined with that of national and state parks, public parks are responsible for more than $200 billion in annual economic activity” (NRPA). The economic benefits of national parks extend beyond just tourism. Visitation and spending directly related to nearby public lands such as national parks annually contribute billions to regional economies, while creating hundreds of thousands of private sector jobs. While not only providing billions to our economy the National Parks also serve as powerful economic engines for local communities and contribute hundreds of thousands of jobs for the American

The advantages of biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, clean air, ecotourism and the preservation of natural and cultural heritage for posterity are widely acknowledged. However, potentially adverse social consequences of the creation protected areas are less well known. Protected Areas frequently require the eviction and exclusion of local groups, but do not always compensate for, or properly assess, the costs involved. Since Protected Areas cover more than 10 % of the earth’s land surface, and since more are mooted adequate to protect a representative sample of the world’s ecosystems, assessing the impacts of current costs and establishing a framework for evaluating future costs is an essential task (Franks). National parks and other protected places don't just secure the survival of threatened species. They also provide us with important gifts by, among other things, regulating local climate and river flows, protecting species that pollinate our crops, and simply being places of natural beauty. In recent years, political commitment to social equity in protected area conservation has grown, but it is not easy to tell what's good from bad. But, history shows that livelihoods and rights can suffer when states protect the areas in which people live, have sacred sites, or from which they take resources. The benefits of conservation can come at a