Changes In Our Government
Save the trees! Conservation of forest and water resource:
Theodore Roosevelt believed in the need for government management of the natural environment. He also worried about the destruction of forests, prairies, streams, and the wilderness. By 1905, he created the U.S Forest service and named conservationist Gilford Pinchot as man in charge. By 1909, the total timber and forest reserves had increased from 45 to 195 million acres, and more than 80 million acres of mineral lands had been withdrawn from public sale.
Preservation:
The Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902- represents the conservation strategy of Roosevelt and Pinchot. The Act established the Reclamation Bureau within the Department of Interior and provided federal funding for dam canal projects. Its primary goal was to turn arid land into productive family farms through irrigation.