The Wildlife Conservation Presidents

[UngulateNerd92]

Being President's Day here in the United States, I thought it would be interesting to share this article about conservation policy milestones from different US Presidents.

"Presidents' Day was originally established to celebrate President George Washington, but it is now recognized as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents, past and present. This year we’d like to highlight some of the U.S. Presidents from both parties that have been champions for conservation.

Ulysses S. Grant (Republican; 1869-1877)
Theodore Roosevelt called President Grant the “father of the national parks” for signing into existence the first National Park in the U.S. In 1871 Congress allocated $40,000 (then a huge sum) to finance an expedition to an area called Yellowstone, a location that then was mainly known from traveler’s stories. Led by the U.S. Geological Survey, the expedition brought back information on this area, and in particular 3D “stereographic images” of the dramatic landscape. This led to Yellowstone being established as the first National Park “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” to keep “natural curiosities, or wonders” protected and conserved “in their natural condition”.

Grant is also responsible for one of the first protected areas for marine mammals. In 1868 he designated the Pribilof Islands in Alaska as a reserve for the northern fur seal. These seals had been heavily over-hunted and populations were declining dramatically. Eventually, during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, our next conservation champion, an international treaty was developed to control the over-hunting of these fur seals and also sea otters - the first international treaty to protect marine mammals (the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911).

The Wildlife Conservation Presidents

 

[UngulateNerd92]

Here is another relevant article.

Which Presidents Have Created the Most National Monuments?

Presidents from both political parties have used the Antiquities Act to preserve natural and cultural resources. Here’s a top-10 list of presidents who have created national monuments on public lands.

About one-quarter of current sites within the National Park System originated through the Antiquities Act — a 1906 law that allows the president of the United States to proclaim lands or waters under federal jurisdiction as national monuments to maintain the integrity of critical natural and cultural resources.

President Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to use the Antiquities Act. He created Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming soon after he signed the law. A total of 17 presidents — representing both political parties — have used the Antiquities Act to create nearly 160 national monuments, some of which are managed by other federal agencies.

President Joe Biden designated Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in Colorado in October using the Antiquities Act. He has pledged to designate Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada, while vowing to protect more treasured lands.

NPCA applauds his work. The Antiquities Act “is a way for presidents to leave their mark on places beloved by the public, to inspire communities to amplify their stories and to conserve lands for future generations,” explained Kristen Brengel, NPCA’s vice president of government affairs.

“We have a choice to destroy or to preserve. Presidents have been inspired to designate monuments to reflect our collective heritage and honor all who have lived in these spaces, and we encourage President Biden to continue preserving and diversifying our park system through the Antiquities Act,” she said.

Looking back, who in the past 100-plus years has used the Antiquities Act the greatest number of times? The top 10 presidents for the number of monuments they created using the Antiquities Act are:

Which Presidents Have Created the Most National Monuments?

 

[UngulateNerd92]

Here is another relevant article.

Jimmy Carter Signed 14 Major Environmental Bills and Foresaw the Threat of Climate Change

A report he commissioned in 1977 presciently recommended limiting global average temperature to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels—the standard agreed to 38 years later in the Paris climate accord.

This year’s wildfires and hurricanes leave no doubt that climate change remains a key issue for a growing number of Americans despite the nation’s deeply polarized politics, as numerous polls have shown. But this is hardly the first time the environment has been a political issue. In fact, the future of the planet was at stake in the presidential contest over 40 years ago—but no one knew it at the time.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter was running for reelection against former California Governor Ronald Reagan. The environment was a campaign issue, in part because Reagan had been quoted saying that more than 80 percent of nitrogen oxide air pollution is “caused by trees and vegetation.” (Reagan, the Sierra Club responded, was “just plain wrong.”) Carter, meanwhile, had signed 14 major pieces of environmental legislation, including the first funding of alternative energy, the first federal toxic waste cleanup (the Super Fund), the first fuel economy standards and important new laws to fight air, water and other forms of pollution. He also protected California’s redwood forest and 100 million acres in the Alaska Lands bill, which doubled the size of the National Park Service.

But there was one big environmental issue he didn’t have time to confront—a challenge that was unknown then outside the scientific community but would eventually become of critical importance around the world.

Jimmy Carter Signed 14 Major Environmental Bills and Foresaw the Threat of Climate Change - Inside Climate News

 

[UngulateNerd92]

Here is another relevant article.

Jimmy Carter Signed 14 Major Environmental Bills and Foresaw the Threat of Climate Change

A report he commissioned in 1977 presciently recommended limiting global average temperature to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels—the standard agreed to 38 years later in the Paris climate accord.

This year’s wildfires and hurricanes leave no doubt that climate change remains a key issue for a growing number of Americans despite the nation’s deeply polarized politics, as numerous polls have shown. But this is hardly the first time the environment has been a political issue. In fact, the future of the planet was at stake in the presidential contest over 40 years ago—but no one knew it at the time.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter was running for reelection against former California Governor Ronald Reagan. The environment was a campaign issue, in part because Reagan had been quoted saying that more than 80 percent of nitrogen oxide air pollution is “caused by trees and vegetation.” (Reagan, the Sierra Club responded, was “just plain wrong.”) Carter, meanwhile, had signed 14 major pieces of environmental legislation, including the first funding of alternative energy, the first federal toxic waste cleanup (the Super Fund), the first fuel economy standards and important new laws to fight air, water and other forms of pollution. He also protected California’s redwood forest and 100 million acres in the Alaska Lands bill, which doubled the size of the National Park Service.

But there was one big environmental issue he didn’t have time to confront—a challenge that was unknown then outside the scientific community but would eventually become of critical importance around the world.

Jimmy Carter Signed 14 Major Environmental Bills and Foresaw the Threat of Climate Change - Inside Climate News

I have to say, pardon my digression, but Jimmy Carter was one of my favorite presidents overall! I have a great deal of appreciation, admiration and reverence towards him. I wonder what the United States and the world overall would have been like had President Carter won a second term. Think about the state of our climate and biodiversity and where that would be.

 

[UngulateNerd92]

Here is another relevant article about the obscure 23rd President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison and his conservation legacy.

Benjamin Harrison, the first American president who tried to save a species

Few U.S. history books even mention Benjamin Harrison—but when they do, the write-ups are usually not too flattering. One historian wrote that Harrison would probably be better liked and remembered today if he had at least died a month into office like his grandfather, the ninth president, William Henry Harrison.

Yet Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, did lay the foundation during his presidency between 1889 and 1893 for several of the issues that would become hallmarks of Theodore Roosevelt's administration in the early 20th century. One was Harrison's signing of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which would form the basis for Roosevelt's trustbusting. Another was Harrison's effort on conservation—most notably creating what would become the National Forests, and engaging in an international dispute to protect fur seals in the Bering Sea.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...erican-president-who-tried-to-save-a-species/