4 ms·

Really? I thought it was Terry Roosevelt. Do you have a source?

by bavent 3y ago

1970-01-01 3y ago
It was Teddy. Via executive orders. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-theodore-roosevelts-executive-orders-reshaped-countryand-presidency-180962908/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-theodore-roosevel...
- bombcar 3y ago
  He came way later - it began much earlier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_National_Park_Service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_National_Park_S... You have to look at the history of each individual park, some started out as government land and remained such, others were private resort islands, etc.
  - 1970-01-01 3y ago
    I suppose it comes down to your definition of kicked off. There were only a few lands protected as national parks before Teddy arrived and protected more land than any other individual has ever done.
- jameshart 3y ago
  But often with the support or lobbying of private interests. Generous souls like Lorrin A. Thurston of Hawaii, who would like you to remember him as the newspaper publishing philanthropist who used his wealth to promote his interest in volcanology and persuade Roosevelt to create the Volcanoes National Park. Which is true - in 1916, the park was established by Woodrow Wilson (helped by Teddy’s endorsement). But the same kind of private interest taking an interest in the affairs of state has its dark side too: Thurston also was the author of the “bayonet constitution” which undermined the Kingdom of Hawaii's sovereignty, and formed the ‘committee of safety’ which enlisted the US Marines in a coup that overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani, and installed Sanford Dole (the fruit guy) as and President, and ultimately brought about the annexation of Hawaii.
underlipton 3y ago
I don't know the history, but if it's anything like the public libraries here (and several other institutions), a lot of it would have been bankrolled by robber barons trying to secure their legacy and avoid taxation. In other words, guilting rich people and threatening nationalization of their wealth works.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  > a lot of it would have been bankrolled by robber barons trying to secure their legacy and avoid taxation. Do you have a cite for that? BTW, donating to charity is tax deductible. For example, if I donate $100 to charity, I can deduct $100 from my taxable income. My choices: 1. paying taxes: I pay $20 2. donating to charity and deducting it from my income: I pay $100 I'm $80 worse off financially by donating to charity rather than paying taxes. As a tax avoidance scheme, donating to charity doesn't deliver.
  - hnbad 3y ago
    That's a very naive understanding of how charities work. You don't donate to a charity, you donate to your charity. Now, obviously your charity still needs to act as a charity so that money can't go back in your pocket but there are plenty of things the charity might spend it on that are in your financial interest and because you founded it, you likely have sufficient influence over it to make that happen even if you don't formally personally make its decisions. Also, if you donate $100 in stock to a charity, that deducts your taxable income by $100 but it doesn't cost you $100 in income. Arguably a more egregious example for this is high art where you can create and destroy value through auctions (i.e. the value of your donation may be massively inflated compared to what you paid for it).
    - WalterBright 3y ago
      > there are plenty of things the charity might spend it on that are in your financial interest How do you think Carnegie's libraries across the country benefited Carnegie financially?
sib 3y ago
Yellowstone National Park - 1872 Sequoia National Park - 1890 Yosemite National Park - 1890 Teddy Roosevelt - president from 1901 - 1909
- bombcar 3y ago
  Roosevelt's Time Machine was well known.

Really? I thought it was Terry Roosevelt. Do you have a source?

by bavent 3y ago

Really? I thought it was Terry Roosevelt. Do you have a source?

1970-01-01 3y ago

It was Teddy. Via executive orders. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-theodore-roosevelts-executive-orders-reshaped-countryand-presidency-180962908/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-theodore-roosevel...

bombcar 3y ago
He came way later - it began much earlier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_National_Park_Service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_National_Park_S... You have to look at the history of each individual park, some started out as government land and remained such, others were private resort islands, etc.
- 1970-01-01 3y ago
  I suppose it comes down to your definition of kicked off. There were only a few lands protected as national parks before Teddy arrived and protected more land than any other individual has ever done.
jameshart 3y ago
But often with the support or lobbying of private interests. Generous souls like Lorrin A. Thurston of Hawaii, who would like you to remember him as the newspaper publishing philanthropist who used his wealth to promote his interest in volcanology and persuade Roosevelt to create the Volcanoes National Park. Which is true - in 1916, the park was established by Woodrow Wilson (helped by Teddy’s endorsement). But the same kind of private interest taking an interest in the affairs of state has its dark side too: Thurston also was the author of the “bayonet constitution” which undermined the Kingdom of Hawaii's sovereignty, and formed the ‘committee of safety’ which enlisted the US Marines in a coup that overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani, and installed Sanford Dole (the fruit guy) as and President, and ultimately brought about the annexation of Hawaii.

underlipton 3y ago

I don't know the history, but if it's anything like the public libraries here (and several other institutions), a lot of it would have been bankrolled by robber barons trying to secure their legacy and avoid taxation. In other words, guilting rich people and threatening nationalization of their wealth works.

WalterBright 3y ago
> a lot of it would have been bankrolled by robber barons trying to secure their legacy and avoid taxation. Do you have a cite for that? BTW, donating to charity is tax deductible. For example, if I donate $100 to charity, I can deduct $100 from my taxable income. My choices: 1. paying taxes: I pay $20 2. donating to charity and deducting it from my income: I pay $100 I'm $80 worse off financially by donating to charity rather than paying taxes. As a tax avoidance scheme, donating to charity doesn't deliver.
- hnbad 3y ago
  That's a very naive understanding of how charities work. You don't donate to a charity, you donate to your charity. Now, obviously your charity still needs to act as a charity so that money can't go back in your pocket but there are plenty of things the charity might spend it on that are in your financial interest and because you founded it, you likely have sufficient influence over it to make that happen even if you don't formally personally make its decisions. Also, if you donate $100 in stock to a charity, that deducts your taxable income by $100 but it doesn't cost you $100 in income. Arguably a more egregious example for this is high art where you can create and destroy value through auctions (i.e. the value of your donation may be massively inflated compared to what you paid for it).
  - WalterBright 3y ago
    > there are plenty of things the charity might spend it on that are in your financial interest How do you think Carnegie's libraries across the country benefited Carnegie financially?

sib 3y ago

Yellowstone National Park - 1872 Sequoia National Park - 1890 Yosemite National Park - 1890 Teddy Roosevelt - president from 1901 - 1909

bombcar 3y ago
Roosevelt's Time Machine was well known.