Roosevelt continued his predecessors’ push to remove Native Americans from their ancestral territories. According to environmental historian Theodore Catton, some 86 million acres of tribal land transferred to the national forest system, much of it during Roosevelt's tenure. America’s 423 national parks, meanwhile, comprise about 85 million acres—also once largely the province of Native peoples. “The rise of conservation dovetailed with a national closeout sale on the Indians’ landed heritage,” wrote Catton.

speaking to the article itself here praising roosevelt and saying that his desecration "would make my blood boil"

[–] came_apart_at_Kmart@hexbear.net 31 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I remember where I was when I learned about "Fortress Conservation" as a phenomenon of political economy (political ecology). as a formal ecologist, the histories (some quite recent/current) were eye opening. i have tried to bring my colleagues attention to it, but aside from younger scientists and conservation workers, older faculty and non profit leaders (with limited exception) were extremely recalcitrant about learning from its lessons, generally.

these people really don't want to acknowledge that many of their exalted heroes fucking hated indigenous people and held extremely racist opinions about traditional ecological knowledge and land management. or just how fascist it is to insist that only a certain socioeconomic cohort of generally urban elites with political power can understand natural resources and they should make decisions unanswerable to the people who live and build their lives in these places.

[–] Johnny_Arson@hexbear.net 17 points 1 month ago (1 children)

As always there is a the-podcast episode about this:

Citations Needed: Episode 155: How the American Settler-Colonial Project Shaped Popular Notions of ‘Conservation’

[–] context@hexbear.net 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

now i'm thinking back to an old colleague, a german ex-pat living in the u.s. who loved the national park system, and realizing i have yet another overdue henry morgenthau apology form to fill out

[–] Arahnya@hexbear.net 14 points 1 month ago

like no actually, he was one link in the chain that led to where we are now.