Autographs
Theodore Roosevelt The Conservation President Promotes a Conference for “Conservation of our Natural Resources”
THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1858-1919). Twenty-Sixth President of the United States (1901-1909). Roosevelt was also the first of only three sitting presidents to have won the Nobel Peace Prize.
November 11, 1907-Dated, Remarkable and Important Content Typed Letter Signed, “Theodore Roosevelt” as President, 3 pages, measuring 10.5” x 8”, at Washington, Choice Extremely Fine. This Letter is to Joseph H. Kibbey, Governor of Arizona, upon official White House stationery. It is sent together with a December 3rd, 1907 Joseph H. Kibbey Typed Letter Signed, 1 page, stating Kibbey will attend the conference regarding protecting our nation’s natural resources being organized by Roosevelt. In the body of the Letter, Roosevelt writes, in full:

“My dear Governor:

The natural resources of the territory of the United States were, at the time of settlement, richer, more varied, and more available than those of any other equal area on the surface of the earth. The development of these resources has given us, for more than a century, a rate of increase in population and wealth undreamed of by the men who founded our Government and without parallel in history. It is obvious that the prosperity which we now enjoy rests directly upon these resources. It is equally obvious that the vigor and success which we desire and foresee far this nation in the future must have this as its ultimate basis.

In view of these evident facts it seems to me time for the country to take account of its natural resources, and to inquire how long they are likely to last. We are prosperous now; we should not forget that it will be just as important to our descendants to be prosperous in their time as it is to us to be prosperous in our time.

Recently I exprest the opinion that there is no other question now before the nation of equal gravity with the question of the conservation of our natural resources; and I added that it is the plain duty of those of us who, for the moment, are responsible, to make inventory of the natural resources which have been handed down to us, to forecast as well as we may the needs of the future, and so to handle the great sources of our prosperity as not to destroy in advance all hope of the prosperity of our descendants.

“t is evident that the abundant natural resources on which the welfare of our nation rests are becoming depleted and in not a few cases are already exhausted. This is true of all portions of the United States; it is especially true of the longer settled communities of the East. The gravity of the situation must, I believe, appeal with special force to the Governors of the States because of their close relations to the people and their responsibility for the welfare of their communities. I have therefore decided, in accordance with the suggestion of the Inland Waterways Commission, to ask the Governors of the States and Territories to meet at the White House on May 13, 14, and 15, to confer with the President and with each other upon the conservation of natural resources.

It gives me great pleasure to invite you to take part in this conference. I should be glad to have you select three citizens to accompany you and to attend the conference as your assistants or advisors. I shall also invite the Senators and Representatives of the Sixtieth Congress to be present at the sessions so far as their duties will permit.

The matters to be considered at this conference are not confined to any region or group of States, but are of vital concern to the Nation as a whole and to all the people. These subjects include the use and conservation of the Mineral Resources, the Resources of the Land, and the Resources of the Waters, in every part of our territory.

In order to open discussion I shall invite a few recognized authorities to present brief descriptions of actual facts and conditions, without argument, leaving the conference to deal with each topic as it may elect. The members of the Inland Waterways Commission will be present in order to share with me the benefit of information and suggestion, and, if desired, to set forth their provisional plans and conclusions.

Facts, which I cannot gainsay, force me to believe that the conservation of our natural resources is the most weighty question now before the people of the United States. If this is so, the proposed conference, which is the first of its kind, will be among the most important gatherings in our history in its effect upon the welfare of all our people. --- I earnestly hope, my dear Governor, that you will find it possible to be present. --- Sincerely yours, (Signed) Theodore Roosevelt”.


President Theodore Roosevelt's contributions to the cause of conservation were immense. He had a passionate interest in the national forests, in reclamation of arid Western lands by irrigation, and in the conservation of water power and other natural resources.

From the very beginning of his Presidency, Roosevelt expressed his support of conservation. In his first message to Congress (1 December 1, 1901), he remarked: The forest and water problems are perhaps the most vital internal problems of the United States. Later in his administration, in his seventh annual message to Congress, Roosevelt again warned: To waste, to destroy, our natural resources - to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness - will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed. His opponents were the land-robbers, the mine-grabbers, and the wood-pulp pirates who fought him at every point.

They were vicious adversaries who appealed to the old laws to discredit and damn the proposed reforms. The May, 1908 conference of governors took place as scheduled; after the conference, which was attended by the governors of most of the states (as well as elder statesmen of every persuasion), Roosevelt appointed a Conservation Commission on 6 June 1908, with Gifford Pinchot as its head.

During his terms in office, Roosevelt reserved some 125 million acres in national forests, 68 million acres of coal lands, and 2,500 water-power sites. Roosevelt worked for beauty, reserving National Parks for the use and delight of the American citizenry for generations to come.