Secretary of The Interior 1868-1911

Sarah Vander Kooi

????Where did all our National Parks come from? How were they founded and by who? It was all the work of the Secretary of the Interior. Secretary of the Interior has a big job ranging from National Parks to Conservation in 1868 to 1911.

Conservation of our environment Conserving our environment is important to our world.

Conservation is the using of natural resources in ways that do not destroy, waste, or damage them. If everyone doesn’t start conserving our environment, we risk a giant climate change which might make life impossible in the world. The world was put into this state by human actions. We can help conserve our environment by not littering, reusing items, even using both sides of paper helps conserve things like trees. Planting trees helps to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air and replaces it with oxygen.

Conservation of our Wildlife Conserving wildlife is a big part of conservation and it’s

not hard to lend a helping hand to that matter either. Don’t litter because it harms animal habitats and kills animals living in that habitat sometimes. Every animal needs its own space to live and roam. By planting roads we destroy wildlife territory, so it is important to plant trees and help make more territory space. Factories let off carbon dioxide which harms habitats. We need to do more to conserve wildlife because if we don’t the world could suffer a huge climate change and animals can’t adjust that fast to a new climate.

Conservation of our Natural Resources

Also help conserve natural resources. Reusing things helps to conserve our natural resources by using things we already have and not dumping them to fill up space on our earth with trash.

John Muir John Muir made a big impact on conservation. He was

born on April 21, 1838, and later he immigrated to the U.S. with his family. He then devoted his life to understanding and protecting nature. His hard work resulted in the establishment of California’s Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park, which are National Parks that protect giant trees and wildlife. He founded the Sierra Club which protects, explores, and to enjoy wild places on earth. It educates humanity on how we can help conserve our ecosystems. Muir Woods National Monument was made to protect big trees in California also.

John James Audubon John James Audubon also played a role in conservation. He

was born on April 26, 1785, in Santo Domingo (now Haiti). He succeeded in painting and describing all the birds in America and later wrote a book named “Birds of America”. He felt a deep need to protect and conserve the birds and their habitat. One time he went on a journey floating on the river for some time and during that trip he studied birds and their actions. He knew all about their life style. He was concerned and wanted to help greatly with the conservation of wildlife. He later wrote a well-known book about the destruction of birds and habitats that had a great impact on the world to start conserving wildlife. Later, in 1905, Audubon Society was named after him. The Society dedicated itself to the conservation of birds, ecosystems, and other wildlife. We still know and carry his name today.

National Park System

The National Park System is administered by the National Park Service that helps conserve wildlife

and environment. Yellowstone National Park was the first national park established, and was later controlled by the new National Park System in March 1, 1872. The National Park System was actually created by Congress in 1916 to “Conserve the scenery, natural and historic objects, the wildlife, and to provide enjoyment of generations.” The National Park System includes scenic exhibits and is distinguished by their Historic/Prehistoric importance, Scientist interest, and Superior recreational assets. The (in 2014 National Park System has 388 National Parks that cover more than 83 million acres in the U.S.A.) The National Park System protects the nation’s natural and historic treasures by conserving and managing them.

What's Important?

Conservation is very important job to the Secretary of Interior and many more things needs to be done to the job to keep the earth preserved and running well for many more generations.

Sources• National Park System, http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0193768.html• National Park System,

http://www.npca.org/assets/pdf/NPCA_Economic_Significance_Report.pdf• Conserving our environment, • http://www.conservationcentre.org.uk/• John James Audubon, http://www.audubon.org/john-james-audubon• Conserving our Wildlife,

http://www.defenders.org/habitat-conservation/defending-habitat• Conserving our Natural Resources, http://feelfriendly.com/conserving-

natural-resources.html• John Muir: A lifetime of Conservation,

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2011/04/john-muir-lifetime-fconservation/• World Book, Volume 1, Interior, Department of, 324-325• Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 22, Conservation, p.436-442• Audubon Society, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Audubon_Society