Theodore Roosevelt: Wilderness Writings (ed.
by Paul Schullery)
Wilderness Writings is a collection of writings by Theodore Roosevelt related
to wilderness and natural history. This excerpt is from a selection titled "Bird
Reserves at the Mouth of the Mississippi". It highlights the need to save
birds for practical as well as aesthetic reasons and the impact of their loss.
"The Audubon societies, and all similar organizations, are doing a great
work for the future of our country. Birds should be saved becasue of utilitarian
reasons; and, moreover, they should be saved because of reasons unconnected with
any return in dollars and cents. A grove of giant redwoods or sequoias should
be kept just as we keep a great and beautiful cathedral. The extermination of
the passenger-pigeon meant that mankind was just so much poorer; exactly as in
the case of the destruction of the cathedral at Rheims. And to lose the chance
to see frigate-birds soaring in circles above the stotm, or a file of pelicans
winging their way homeward across the crimson after-glow of the sunset, or a myriad
terns flashing in the bright light of midday as they hover in a shifting maze
above the beach--why, the loss is like the loss of a gallery of the masterpieces
of the artists of old time."
____
1. What are the reasons Theodore Roosevelt thinks birds should be saved?
2. What does he mean when he says, ". . .should be kept just as we keep a
great and beautiful cathedral."?
3. What is a "utilitarian" reason to save birds?
4. What are "reasons unconnected with any return in dollars and cents"
to save birds?
5. What are some things we would no longer have in (Sitka, Alaska) if all of the
(bald eagles) were gone?
6. What is the connection between saving birds and doing something great for the
future of our country?
Citation:
Roosevelt, Theodore. Wilderness Writings. Ed. Paul Schullery. Salt Lake City:
Gibbs M. Smith, Inc., 1986. 215-216.
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