The Nation's First Forester-in-Chief: The Overlooked Role of FDR and the Environment
36 Pages Posted: 14 Feb 2017 Last revised: 3 Dec 2017
Date Written: February 13, 2017
Abstract
Douglas Brinkley, biographer of Theodore Roosevelt and his environmental legacy, has produced a sequel on his distant cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). In a comprehensive eco-biography, Brinkley shows in some detail how committed an environmentalist FDR was, protecting federal lands, encouraging state conservation efforts, making wildlife protection a national priority, and dedicating the federal government to soil protection and forest replanting. Although FDR’s romance with federal dams undercuts the assertion somewhat, the Brinkley biography successfully shows that FDR has a legitimate claim to being the foremost of environmental American presidents.
Keywords: environmental history, public lands, environmental law, wildlife law, politics, natural resources
JEL Classification: H23, H41, K11, K23, K32, N52, O13, Q23, Q24, Q28, Q58
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation