Ted Roosevelt IV is careful not to speak for his late great-grandfather, President Theodore Roosevelt. However, he is convinced that the former president would have been “appalled” by the current Republican House efforts to permit mining close to a vast wilderness expanse in Minnesota.
Consequently, he and several family members recently penned a letter to Republican senators. They implored the senators to oppose allowing mining upstream from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a magnificent preserve featuring glacial lakes and boreal forests, renowned for its canoe routes and hiking trails.
This action represents a striking rebuke of the Republican Party’s apparent departure from the environmental principles espoused by Theodore Roosevelt, who championed the protection of approximately 230 million acres of public lands during his presidency.
“It’s not just this administration — it’s the G.O.P. collectively that is not as concerned about conservation as it should be,” Ted Roosevelt IV, 83, stated in a recent interview.
Mr. Roosevelt, an investment banker based in Manhattan and a lifelong moderate Republican, journeyed to Washington last week. His mission was to engage with senators and their staff regarding the Boundary Waters issue. His respected conservative background and his distinguished family name opened doors to several offices, though he chose not to disclose which ones.
Off the top of his head, Mr. Roosevelt recalled numerous conservation initiatives led by past Republican presidents: Ulysses S. Grant established Yellowstone as the first national park. Abraham Lincoln safeguarded Yosemite Valley by designating it as California’s inaugural state park. More recently, George W. Bush created a significant marine national monument in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii.
“I don’t see any Republican leadership on that scale today,” Mr. Roosevelt lamented.
President Trump, who has signaled his intention to approve legislation permitting mining near the Boundary Waters, has consistently sought to expand oil and gas drilling, mining, and other industrial activities across public lands and waters nationwide. His administration plans to authorize new oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and over nearly 1.3 billion acres of U.S. coastal waters.
[Image: A portrait of Ted Roosevelt IV, a Manhattan-based investment banker and a lifelong moderate Republican, in Washington. Caption: Ted Roosevelt IV, a Manhattan-based investment banker and a lifelong moderate Republican, in Washington on Wednesday. Credit: Caroline Gutman for The New York Times]
“There’s never been a president with zero interest in protecting the natural world until Donald Trump,” commented Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University and author of “The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America.”
[Image: A river winds through densely forested land, illustrating the pristine wilderness of the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. Caption: The Boundary Waters, an area of pristine wilderness in Minnesota, where a mining company proposes a copper and nickel mine. Credit: Tim Gruber for The New York Times]
The letter was also signed by two other great-grandsons of Theodore Roosevelt: Tweed Roosevelt, a businessman and family historian, and Mark Roosevelt, a former Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts. Kermit Roosevelt III, a law professor and great-great-grandsons of the former president, also added his signature.
“T.R. was active in preserving our greatest wilderness terrain on both the East and West coasts — it became one of the greatest enduring legacies of his life,” the four Roosevelts emphasized in their letter to senators.
“It is now time for all of you to get in the arena with him,” they urged, referencing a celebrated quote from the former president about the importance of fighting courageously for noble causes.
The descendants further noted their collective representation of all three branches of Theodore Roosevelt’s family, tracing back to his sons Archie, Kermit, and Ted. “The four of us below have never collectively co-signed a letter together, which should give an indication of how strongly we support voting no on this,” they asserted.
Kermit Roosevelt III chose not to provide further comment for this article, stating in an email that he “would prefer just to let the letter speak for itself.” The other two Roosevelts did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
While some may not immediately connect Theodore Roosevelt, a New York City native who famously hunted bison in the American West, with Minnesota’s wilderness, he played a pivotal role in establishing the Superior National Forest. This vast area, encompassing three million acres in the state and including the Boundary Waters, was among his final presidential conservation acts.
[Interactive map: This interactive map illustrates the proposed mine’s location within the national forest and its proximity to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, titled “Mine would lie in national forest”.]
The Boundary Waters has been at the heart of an intense debate for over ten years concerning a proposed copper and nickel mine. Twin Metals Minnesota, a subsidiary of the Chilean mining firm Antofagasta, aims to construct an underground mine in Ely, situated just upstream from this cherished wilderness.
Environmental advocates have actively campaigned to halt the project, citing concerns that mining operations could introduce heavy metals and sulfuric acid into the region’s interconnected lakes and streams, causing significant contamination. They achieved a notable success in 2023 when the Biden administration imposed a 20-year moratorium on mining across more than 225,000 acres within the Superior National Forest.
However, the House recently passed a resolution, sponsored by Representative Pete Stauber, a Minnesota Republican, that seeks to nullify this moratorium. Senate Republicans intend to advance the measure in the coming weeks using a simple majority vote, circumventing the 60-vote threshold typically required for many legislative actions.
Given that both Minnesota senators are Democrats, it remains uncertain which Senate Republican will champion the measure. Representatives for Senator John Thune, the Republican majority leader from South Dakota, did not respond to requests for comment.
Representatives for Twin Metals Minnesota and Mr. Stauber also declined to comment.
Ryan Callaghan, CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving hunting and fishing access in the Boundary Waters, expressed gratitude for the Roosevelt family’s support in the Senate debate. “That name sure carries weight with a lot of people,” he remarked.
In recent years, some academics have argued that Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation views and attitudes were, by today’s standards, tinged with racism. In a 1905 speech, he referred to white people as the “forward race,” and the establishment of many national parks during his tenure often led to the forced displacement of Native Americans from ancestral lands they had long managed.
Nevertheless, the 26th president continues to command widespread admiration, even among prominent figures in the current administration. Doug Burgum, the interior secretary in the Trump administration, frequently references Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation legacy in his public addresses, social media updates, and internal communications to Interior Department staff.
During his time as North Dakota’s governor, Mr. Burgum was a strong proponent for the construction of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, N.D. This library is scheduled to open on July 4, coinciding with America’s 250th anniversary – an occasion prominently featured in the Roosevelts’ letter.
“On Independence Day, three pillars of T.R.’s life will take central stage: leadership, conservation and citizenship,” they wrote. “It’s one thing for politicians to say they believe in these three pillars, and it’s quite another thing to act that way.”