This book is both an exhaustive examination of the conservation movement in the USA, and a biography of FDR. I have always been a fan of FDR but had no idea that he was a lifetime conservationist. It tells the story of the farsighted people who made possible our national parks, national monuments, many state parks, national seashores, and wildlife refuges. It is a fascinating account of land preservation during the FDR years of the Great Depression and World War II, of FDR's love of trees and
the Hudson River Valley, and of the people who helped to make it happen. The book also notes the understandable for the time lapses in judgment or knowledge that actually harmed the environment.
FDR and his team of New Dealers were able to get millions of dollars granted for
conservation projects even in the midst of fighting both the Great Depression and World War II.
This book is the second in a planned trilogy by Brinkley on the conservation movement in American history. The first being Wilderness Warrior about Theodore Roosevelt’s contribution to the history of American conservationism. I can hardly wait for the third volume to come out.
