Culture of Conservation

Way back in 1903, President Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir went camping together in Yosemite. This was not a world of long presidential motorcades and helicopters. According to Roosevelt . . .

“John Muir met me with a couple of packers and two mules to carry our tent, bedding, and food for a three days' trip.” 

Leading to what would become the United States’ renowned system of national parks, Muir pleaded with Roosevelt to preserve the wilderness lands of Yosemite - and beyond. John Muir is sometimes called the “father of the National Park Service.”

After listening to the recommendation that protected lands fall under the unified protection of the federal government rather than a patchwork of federal, state and local control, Roosevelt signed a resolution that put Yosemite under federal protection.

Today, efforts are under way to do the exact opposite across the country.