Miller, Char, 1951-

Char Miller charts the long path that led to the passage in 1911 of the Weeks Act which provided for the purchase of forest lands in the eastern and southern United States by the federal government to protect the adjacent navigable rivers. Miller highlights the efforts of John W. Weeks of Massachusetts who pushed for the legislation as a member of Congress. Miller lists some of the provisions of the legislation, and he notes how the preservation of forest lands was extended to the Appalachian Mountain watershed in the South. Miller argues that combining the preservation of forest lands in the Northeast and South gave the legislation more support in Congress, and he describes how Gifford Pinchot and Theodore Roosevelt tried to overcome southern hostility to measures by the federal government to purchase forest land. 

 

Photographs of Pinchot and Weeks, two advertisements from the U.S. Forest Service celebrating the centennial of the Weeks Act, and the text of a speech by Roosevelt supplement the article.

Char Miller opens and concludes his biography of Gifford Pinchot by asserting that the contemporary Republican Party under President George W. Bush has abandoned the conservation legacy the party built under Pinchot and Theodore Roosevelt. Miller looks at the evolution of Pinchot’s beliefs, extending back to his grandparents, and he demonstrates how Pinchot moved further to the left during the course of his career. By the time of the second Roosevelt presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt,  Pinchot had undergone a “radicalization” that called for the seizure of private forest lands. Miller highlights some of the individuals who worked with or against Pinchot in his forestry career.

Thirteen photographs supplement the text, including two of Theodore Roosevelt and six of Pinchot. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Char Miller explores the use and evolution of the Antiquities Act of 1906, which President Theodore Roosevelt made extensive use of during his second term in office. Miller notes how the Act emerged from the Progressive movement with its faith in a strong central government and trained experts. Miller notes that the Act has been seen as part of the growing power of the executive branch of government, but he notes that the national monuments created by the Act lacked protection and development for decades until the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Miller highlights national monuments such as Devils Tower, Navajo National Monument, and the Grand Canyon. 

 

The article includes five photographs of Roosevelt in 1895, 1903, 1910, 1911, and 1914.