Protecting Birds
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42 - 50
CONSERVATION
PRESIDENT
“There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country. Just as we must conserve our men, women and children, so we must conserve the resources of the land on which they live.” –Theodore Roosevelt
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BECOMES 26th PRESIDENT
While Roosevelt visits the Adirondacks, President McKinley is shot. He dies eight days later. A hasty inauguration ceremony is held in Buffalo, New York (above)
1901
SEPTEMBER 14
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1901
SEPTEMBER
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FIRST MESSAGE TO CONGRESS
Roosevelt insists that government should preserve wilderness and natural resources “for the use and benefit of our people as a whole”
1901
DECEMBER 3
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1902
MAY 22
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CARRIAGE ACCIDENT
While campaigning in Massachusetts, Roosevelt is thrown from a carriage and permanently injures his left leg
1902
SEPTEMBER
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BEAR HUNT
While hunting in Mississippi, Roosevelt refuses to shoot a captured bear. Shortly afterward, a toy manufacturer introduces stuffed bears and calls them “Teddy Bears”
1902
NOVEMBER
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1903
MARCH 14
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ALASKAN BOUNDARY DISPUTE SETTLED
After the settlement of a dispute with Britain over the Canada-Alaska border, Roosevelt protects Alaskan lands and wildlife
1903
MARCH
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1903
MAY
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1903
MAY
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WINS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Roosevelt wins in a landslide. “I am glad to be elected President in my own right”
1904
NOVEMBER 8
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ESTABLISHES NATIONAL FOREST SERVICE
Roosevelt appoints the government’s most prominent forester, Gifford Pinchot, as chief. Together they create or enlarge 150 national forests
1905
FEBRUARY 1
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KEN SALAZAR
Roosevelt pioneers government efforts to protect wildlife, creating four game preserves during his presidency
1905
JUNE 2
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COFOUNDS AMERICAN BISON SOCIETY
To rehabilitate Great Plains bison populations, Roosevelt joins with New York Zoological Society director William Hornaday (above) in founding this organization
1905
DECEMBER
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DAVID HURST THOMAS
Signs the Antiquities Act; eventually protects 18 sites, including archeological locations of Native peoples
1906
JUNE 8
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SIGNS PURE FOOD AND DRUG ACT
Roosevelt expanded government’s role in areas outside of conservation. Federal meat inspection was the key component of this landmark act
1906
JUNE 30
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TRAVELS TO PANAMA
The first president to travel internationally while in office; inspects Panama Canal construction
1906
NOVEMBER
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AWARDED NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
The prize recognizes Roosevelt’s leadership in facilitating the negotiations (above) that ended the Russo-Japanese War
1906
DECEMBER 10
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CONFERENCE OF GOVERNORS
Concerned about resources, Roosevelt calls the first Conference of Governors to consider conservation issues
1908
MAY
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DOUGLAS BRINKLEY
In just a few days, Roosevelt protects more than 16 million acres of forest
1908
JULY 1
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END OF PRESIDENTIAL TERM
As president, Roosevelt launched programs that would protect more than 230 million acres of U.S. land
1909
MARCH 4
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END OF THIRD CHAPTER
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1909
