Why was roosevelt considered to be a conservationist?

Answer 1

There were many influences throughout TR's life that directed him toward conservationist goals. As a child, he was fascinated with wildlife, killing specimens and stuffing them. He was quite a good taxidermist as a child. As a teenager, he wrote a guide book to the birds of Long Island, which was among the best books of its kind for its time.

Perhaps the most influential period in his life was in his 20's, when he went west to the Dakota Territory to hunt bison while he still had the chance to do so. He fell in love with the place and purchased the Maltese Cross Ranch. He added the Elkhorn Ranch the next year. The story is too long to repeat here, but retold in TR's own words in several wonderful books: Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, and The Wilderness Hunter. During his time, he found value in the solitude in the wilderness, the adventure of living in such a rugged (and lawless!) place, and witnessed the tragedy of a starvation winter precipitated by overstocking the land in 1886-1887. See the Theodore Roosevelt National Park website for more on this period in his life: http://www.nps.gov/thro

As an accidental President of the United States, then elected of his own accord in 1904 ("I am no longer a political accident,") Roosevelt pursued many conservation issues. He is largely regarded as the right man in the right place at the right time to pursue conservation, an issue that was important to him, in a historical time when the need for conservation was at its highest. Roosevelt was handed a powerful new ability by the American Antiquities Act of 1906, which allowed the President to create national monuments of features of "scientific interest," which he interpreted broadly and applied to places beyond the original intent of the bill, which was to protect mainly archaeological sites in the American Southwest. He was influenced by books, no doubt, but also of other people of the time: George Bird Grinnell (with whom he founded the Boone and Crockett Club), John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and others.

Overall, though, it was Roosevelt's enjoyment of the outdoors that drove him to want to protect that same type of experience for others. It was partly his experience in Dakota, but also a lifetime of pursuing outdoor adventure, and passing that mentality onto his children.

As President, Theodore Roosevelt conserved over 150 Million acres of land including 150 national forests, 18 national monuments, 51 federal bird sanctuaries, 4 wildlife preserves, and 5 national parks.

Answer 2

He set aside over 150 Million acres of land for conservation, more than any other person in world history.

Answer 3

Teddy was a wildlife enthusiast, and appreciated the forests. He created the national parks in order to keep America's natural beauty alive.