THE THEODORE ROOSEVELT NATURALIST SOCIETY

The Montfort Academy's Theodore Roosevelt Naturalist Society is the umbrella club for many other clubs at Montfort that all relate to the wonder and awe of God's creation.  These include:

• The Astronomy Club
• The Marine Biology and Scuba Diving Club
• The Botany and Agriculturist Club
• The Ornithology and Birdwatching Club

The Club is named after America's 26th President.  As a boy, Theodore Roosevelt wanted to be a naturalist, a scientist who revels in and examines nature. As an adult, the President never forgot his childhood dream, and preserved vast regions of the U.S. for future generations of Americans.

Roosevelt, an avid adventurer and lover of nature, dedicated himself to protecting both wildlife and natural resources. He recognized that without dramatic action, the rich natural resources and incomparable landscapes of our country would disappear as quickly as the buffalo, leaving future generations without a legacy of natural splendors. As president, Roosevelt provided federal protection for almost 230 million acres of land, an area equivalent to the entire Eastern Seaboard from Maine to Florida. He sat aside 150 national forests, the first 51 federal bird reservations, five national parks, the first 18 national monuments, the first four national game preserves and the first 24 reclamation, or federal irrigation, projects, designations that were bitterly opposed by commercial interests. Roosevelt also appointed as the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service the visionary Gifford Pinchot, who shared his philosophy of natural resource conservation through sustainable use, and he convened four study commissions on conservation for policymakers and leading authorities to shape thought about the then-new field of conservation.  (From The Theodore Roosevelt Association http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org)