Fascinated by nature and wildlife, Theodore Roosevelt first came to North Dakota in 1883. He came in hopes to hunt his own bison, but what he found was drastically different than what he expected. He discovered that the lands were being depleted of their natural nutrients due to overgrazing and over-usage and that the bison population was being hunted to near extinction.
It was here and then, that he saw the need for land and wildlife preservation and protection. As president, he not only established the US Forest Service, but he also created five national parks, 150 national forests, and dozens of federal reserves. Overall he helped preserve and protect over 230 million acres.
Photo: @while.we.were.wandering