The Raping of America's National Treasures

My family went on vacation recently and we had a fantastic time. We visited the national monument at Mt. Rushmore and various sites around Rapid City and then headed north to The badlands in North Dakota to visit the inspirational and fantastic natural splendor of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

I will be and all people of this great land of ours should also be, forever grateful for Theodore Roosevelt's foresight and understanding when he created the National Parks and Forest system. In the late 1880's, Theodore Roosevelt visited the area and stayed to try his hand at ranching, he got more than he bargained for in a healthy respect and appreciation for the natural beauty of the North Dakota wilderness.

Back in 1849 on the last day of the Congressional session a bill was passed that created the Department of the Interior, they were in charge of all domestic internal affairs of our nation. Part of this has become the National Parks and Forests of our country.

The parks and forests are a natural resource that has been in danger of becoming extinct. President Roosevelt could see all over the country that natural areas would soon be destroyed due to population expansion and careless people not taking the time or energy to try and save these resources for future generations. He made great efforts and started the country and lawmakers on a road to creating these protected areas for the future of our country and the generations to come.

Today we can be thankful for his and others efforts to save these and other great national treasures. We must preserve these areas of natural beauty and hope that for generations to come, we will have these wonderlands of nature to enjoy and marvel in. The animals and plants of these natural areas are a vital part of the ecosystem of the world and the 26th President of the United States could see that something needed to be done, and quickly.