42
spheres of cartography, more akin to an ideal than dirt in one’s palm. We want to
believe that these places are safe for all beings; the deer and the antelope; the bison
and the eagle; the wild turkey and the rainbow trout.
One thing for certain: Roosevelt’s killing sprees abroad were not intended to
signal to Americans, or perpetuate at home, anything contrary to the sacrosanct
philosophy inherent to the National Wildlife Refuge System which was and is, “To
administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife, and plant resources and
their habitats within the United States for the benefit of the present and future generations of Americans” (National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of
1997). Nowhere in that mission statement is there mention or condoning of populist
killing. Tragically, Roosevelt’s son, Kermit, would take his own life with a gun, up
in Alaska, June 4, 1943.
Fig. 5.1 President
Theodore Roosevelt in
1898. (Photo Public
Domain)
5 The Paradox of Protection
spheres of cartography, more akin to an ideal than dirt in one’s palm. We want to
believe that these places are safe for all beings; the deer and the antelope; the bison
and the eagle; the wild turkey and the rainbow trout.
One thing for certain: Roosevelt’s killing sprees abroad were not intended to
signal to Americans, or perpetuate at home, anything contrary to the sacrosanct
philosophy inherent to the National Wildlife Refuge System which was and is, “To
administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife, and plant resources and
their habitats within the United States for the benefit of the present and future generations of Americans” (National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of
1997). Nowhere in that mission statement is there mention or condoning of populist
killing. Tragically, Roosevelt’s son, Kermit, would take his own life with a gun, up
in Alaska, June 4, 1943.
Fig. 5.1 President
Theodore Roosevelt in
1898. (Photo Public
Domain)
5 The Paradox of Protection