"The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem, it will avail us little to solve all others."
-Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
-Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
Introduction
The rapid industrialization movement in the United States troubled many environmentalists. The western expansion of settlements destroyed cultural and natural areas which they believed should be under protection of the government.
In 1832, George Catlin, a painter, conceived the idea of national parks when exploring the Great Plains. "What a beautiful and thrilling specimen for America to preserve and hold up to the view of her refined citizens and the world, in future ages! A nation's Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!"
-George Catlin, American artist While it took decades for Catlin's idea to become reality, the American environmentalist movement began to grow.
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