HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRC Communication, Christie - Roosevelt Monument1
From:Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club <sierraclub8@gmail.com>
Sent:Friday, January 4, 2019 9:12 PM
To:Advisory Bodies
Subject:PRC communication: Support for Theodore Roosevelt Monument
Attachments:TR monument ltr.docx
Dear Commissioners,
The Sierra Club is pleased to submit a letter of support for a Theodore Roosevelt monument in SLO, attached.
Thank you for your attention to this issue,
Andrew Christie, Director
Sierra Club, Santa Lucia Chapter
P.O. Box 15755
San Luis Obispo, CA 93406
(805) 543-8717
Dec. 21, 2018
TO: The San Luis Obispo Parks Commission
Dear Commissioners,
The Sierra Club is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization, with chapters in
every state. The Santa Lucia Chapter recently celebrated our 50th year in San Luis Obispo County. We
strongly support the creation of a monument to President Theodore Roosevelt in San Luis Obispo.
We share much in common with the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, who, along
with our founder, John Muir, is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the American conservation
movement. The nation generally, and the state of California in particular, are in debt to both men and
what they did in the cause of conservation.
In May 1903, Roosevelt toured the length of California on a 14,000-mile “Grand Loop” tour of the
American West. Roosevelt’s journey through Los Angeles, the Central Coast, San Francisco, the Sierra
Nevada and Northern California, and his meeting with Sierra Club founder John Muir, would result in the
expansion of Yosemite National Park as well as other national forests, wildlife refuges, parks and
monuments that amount to 265 million acres throughout the U.S.
In June 1906, President Roosevelt took the first step to conserve the spectacular land resources of San
Luis Obispo County, declaring the San Luis Obispo Forest Reserve.
He designated Pinnacles National Monument on January 16, 1908. Originally 2,500 acres, it is now a
26,000-acre National Park, preserving one of the most fantastic geological formations in the world.
As part of what became known as “the "crowded hour" of his presidency, on July 1, 1908, Roosevelt
declared 45 new national forests through 11 western states, including the San Luis and Santa Barbara
National Forests, two of the original units of what is now Los Padres National Forest.
Yet, to date, there is no site in California that acknowledges Roosevelt’s role in the protection of our
natural resources. San Luis Obispo, with its strong tradition of conservation and central location in a
region on which Roosevelt’s conservation ethic has had a profound effect to the present day, is the ideal
place for such commemoration. This monument will provide an educational and inspirational link to
Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation legacy.
Thank you for this opportunity to comment,
Chuck Tribbey,
Chapter Chair