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Chapter 5: Our Forests—Past, Present, and Future
Roosevelt was president from 1901 to 1909. During that time, the forest
reserves in the United States went from roughly 40 million acres to nearly 195
million acres. Today, the US Forest Service oversees 193 million acres of national
forest and grasslands, and 36 million acres of wilderness area, national scenic
areas, national monument areas, and volcanic monument areas. Roosevelt’s vision
is still in place.
The Conservationist President
Theodore Roosevelt was responsible for the creation of:
• 4 national game preserves
• 5 national parks
• 18 national monuments
• 24
reclamation
projects
• 51 federal bird reservations
• 150 national forests
President Roosevelt on a hunting trip in Colorado, 1905.