Theodore Roosevelt S Wilderness Writings

The Wilderness Hunter

Leave It As It Is

“A rallying cry in the age of climate change.” —Robert Redford An environmental clarion call, told through bestselling author David Gessner’s wilderness road trip inspired by America’s greatest conservationist, Theodore Roosevelt. “Leave it as it is,” Theodore Roosevelt announced while viewing the Grand Canyon for the first time. “The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.” Roosevelt’s rallying cry signaled the beginning of an environmental fight that still wages today. To reconnect with the American wilderness and with the president who courageously protected it, acclaimed nature writer and New York Times bestselling author David Gessner embarks on a great American road trip guided by Roosevelt’s crusading environmental legacy. Gessner travels to the Dakota badlands where Roosevelt awakened as a naturalist; to Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon where Roosevelt escaped during the grind of his reelection tour; and finally, to Bears Ears, Utah, a monument proposed by Native Tribes that is embroiled in a national conservation fight. Along the way, Gessner questions and reimagines Roosevelt’s vision for today. As Gessner journeys through the grandeur of our public lands, he tells the story of Roosevelt’s life as a pioneering conservationist, offering an arresting history, a powerful call to arms, and a profound meditation on our environmental future.

Theodore Roosevelt's Wilderness Writings

Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth president of the United States, was not only the most famous hunter of his generation of Americans, but he was also among its best-informed and most popular outdoor writers. Edmund Heller, the well-known Smithsonian biologist who accompanied Roosevelt on his famous African expedition, said that the former president was the world's foremost authority on large mammals. He was also an avid bibliophile and had what may have been the finest large mammal library in North America in the early 1900s. Roosevelt communicated with authorities--both sportsmen and scientists--in all parts of the world. From his lifelong study and enthusiasm for outdoor adventure came a host of durable writings, gathered together here in a collection that celebrates the natural world. Roosevelt's commitment to saving wild places is one of his most lasting contributions as a U.S. president. This collection combines classic hunting and nature narratives with his equally durable advocacy of wilderness protection for the sake of personal and national character. This new edition features an introduction by Paul Schullery that provides historical and ecological context.