Environmental dilemmas and questions are multiplying as the new millennium begins. Air pollution is rampant, aquifers are growing smaller and water quality is an issue. Debates about the purposes and scope of our national forests and national parks are ongoing

With the first President’s Day of the 21st century just passed, it seems an appropriate time to look back at 20th century to note the influence of U.S. presidents in the environmental arena:
° In 1872, President U.S. Grant signed the bill creating Yellowstone National Park, the nation’s first national park.
° In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison created Yosemite National Park.

Teddy Roosevelt’s refuges
President Theodore Roosevelt, the first of the 20th century presidents, was truly proactive in setting aside federal lands. In 1903 he created the first national wildlife refuge, Pelican island in Florida, by executive order.
° In 1905 Roosevelt signed the Transfer Act, which moved the Forest Service from the Department of the Interior to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This was the beginning of scientific forestry.
° In 1906, Roosevelt signed the American Antiquities Act, authorizing the executive power to create national monuments.
° Roosevelt created 53 national refuges during his tenure.

Taft creates monuments
William Howard Taft followed Roosevelt to the White House. He created national monuments in Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.

Wilson protects birds
Woodrow Wilson’s presidency was an environmentally active one:
° In 1913 he passed the Migratory Bird Act.
° Also in 1913, the Federal Tariff Act was passed, prohibiting the importation of many types of wild bird feathers.
° In 1915 the Rocky Mountain National Park was created and in 1916 the National Park Service was created.

Wilson also created eight national monuments during his tenure. But all of Wilson’s initiatives were not in the best interest of wildlife. In 1915 he created the Bureau of Biological Survey, which began the wholesale slaughter of predators.

Coolidge & hydro power
Another program that went awry was the 1927 reauthorization of the Rivers and Harbors Act, signed by Coolidge. This law, enacted because of major flooding along the Mississippi River, led to widespread channelization and dam building by the Army Corps of Engineers in the name of navigation, hydro power and flood control.

Hoover funds wetlands
Herbert Hoover passed the Norbeck-Anderson Act in 1929 providing funds for federal agencies to purchase wetlands. Carlsbad Caverns National Park was created under Hoover.

FDR’s projects
If any other president came close to Theodore Roosevelt’s involvement in the environment, it was probably Franklin D. Roosevelt:
° In 1933 he created the Civilian Conservation Corps, where unemployed men worked on projects throughout the national parks and forests. The CCC was particularly active in the Appalachian region.
° In 1933 he created the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
° In 1934 created the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
° In 1937 he signed the Pittman-Robertson Act into law. This law collects excise taxes on firearms and ammunition and distributes them to state wildlife agencies.
° In 1939 he created the U.S. Fish and Wildlife from the Bureau of the Biological Survey.
° In 1940 he signed the Bald Eagle Protection Act.
° In 1944 he created Big Bend National Park.
° In 1947 he created Everglades National Park.

Truman and water quality
Harry Truman signed the first water pollution control act in 1948. This act was strengthened during the Eisenhower administration in 1956.

Eisenhower and the seaway
Eisenhower also presided over the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, which connected the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean and became a major thoroughfare for the exotic and invasive zebra mussel.

Kennedy protects eagles
In 1962, under John Kennedy, the Bald Eagle Protection Act was amended to include the golden eagle.
After 66 revisions, the Wilderness Act was finally signed into law in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson.

Nixon preserves wildlife
Not often thought of as an environmental president, Nixon’s tenure was quite busy:
° 1968 passage of the National Wild and Scenic River Act and National Trails Act.
° 1970 Council on Environmental Quality was established, the Clean Air Act passed and NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act, passed.
° 1972 the Environmental Protection Agency bans DDT.
° 1973 Endangered Species Act passes.

Carter and Alaska
President Jimmy Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980, before turning office over to Ronald Reagan. The act set aside 100 million acres in Alaska.

Bush protects cranes
The George H. W. Bush administration is most revered by environmentalists for what didn’t happen. In 1990 the EPA vetoed the construction of the proposed Two Forks Dam which would have altered the flow of the Platte River and dried up critical sandhill crane migration stops.

Clinton’s roadless initiative
Bill Clinton’s Roadless Initiative is one of the latest conservation debates and many are holding their breath to see if George W. Bush will try to reverse the initiative that sets aside nearly 60 million acres of national forest land as roadless area.

The 21st Century:
° George W. Bush?

 

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