Evaluates Theodore Roosevelt's role in launching modern conservationism, identifying the contributions of such influences as James Audubon and John Muir while describing how Roosevelt's exposure to natural wonders in his early life shaped his environmental values.

Includes index.

The education of a Darwinian naturalist -- Animal rights and evolution -- Of science, fish, and Robert B. Roosevelt -- Harvard and the north woods of Maine -- Midwest tramping and the conquering of the Matterhorn -- Chasing buffalo in the Badlands and grizzlies in the Bighorns -- Cradle of conservation: the Elkhorn Ranch of North Dakota -- Wildlife protection business: Boone and Crockett Club meets the U.S. Biological Survey -- Laying the groundwork with John Burroughs and Benjamin Harrison -- The wilderness hunter in the electric age -- The Bronx Zoo founder -- The rough rider -- Higher political perches -- The advocate of the strenuous life -- The conservationist president and the bully pulpit for forestry -- The great Mississippi bear hunt and saving the Puerto Rican parrot -- Crater Lake and Wind Cave National Parks -- Paul Kroegel and the Feather Wars of Florida -- Passports to the parks: Yellowstone, The Grand Canyon, and Yosemite -- Beauty unmarred: winning the White House in 1904 -- The Oklahoma Hills (or, where the buffalo president roams) -- The national monuments of 1906 -- The prehistoric sites of 1907 -- Mighty birds: federal reservations of 1907-1908 -- The preservationist revolution of 1908 -- Dangerous antagonist: the last bold steps of 1909.