TRCP works to conserve special places like the Boundary Waters and landscapes that define hunting and fishing. Here’s why.

“The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.” – Theodore Roosevelt 

At the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, that idea is not a slogan. It is a responsibility. 

Hunters and anglers know conservation is not abstract. It is a duck blind at sunrise, a bull elk crossing a high ridge, a trout rising in clean, cold water. It is also the rare chance to hunt, fish, and travel through landscapes where solitude is still possible—where distance, quiet, and undeveloped character shape the experience itself. 

We believe in the wise use of natural resources. Responsible development strengthens communities and supports our economy and quality of life. But we also recognize that some landscapes are so ecologically intact, and so vital to fish, wildlife, and outdoor experiences, that their highest and best use is long-term stewardship. 

Not every place meets that threshold and TRCP is judicious in where we engage. But where intact watersheds, big game habitat, resilient fisheries, and recreation depend on stability at scale—and where there is broad agreement among hunters and anglers—conservation is not symbolic. It is practical. It is how opportunity endures. 

This is why TRCP works to conserve America’s special places. This principle guides our work from Alaska to Florida and in places like the Boundary Waters and the Brooks Range. 

Following in Roosevelt’s Footsteps 

President Theodore Roosevelt believed conservation and prosperity belonged together. He hunted, he ranched, he fished, and he understood that wildlife abundance depends on intact habitat and clean water.  

As T.R. wrote, “Conservation means development as much as it does protection.” Stewardship meant ensuring natural resources endure, productive and accessible, for generations to come. Yet Roosevelt also believed that some special places, by their very character, warranted enduring stewardship. That dual commitment of wise use and careful restraint where necessary, continues to guide TRCP’s work today. 

Recently, Theodore Roosevelt’s direct descendants sent a letter to U.S. Senators urging them to uphold that legacy by protecting the Boundary Waters. They reminded lawmakers that Roosevelt worked “exceedingly hard to protect Minnesota’s forests and water,” emphasizing that safeguarding extraordinary landscapes reflects foresight, responsibility, and bipartisan leadership. 

Their appeal was not nostalgic. It was a call to carry forward a distinctly American tradition of stewardship—recognizing that when certain waters, wildlife habitats, and public lands are placed at risk, leaders have a duty to act with the long view in mind. 

For hunters and anglers, that long view is simple: intact habitat today means opportunity tomorrow. 

Why Special Places Matter to Hunters and Anglers 

For hunters and anglers, special places are not abstract. They are the source of opportunity. 

They are the cold headwaters that sustain trout. The migratory habitats that carry elk and mule deer across vast landscapes. The intact watersheds that support wild salmon and thriving waterfowl. They are also landscapes where Americans can escape the noise of everyday life and immerse themselves in nature – experiences afield that are increasingly rare and important in a busy world. 

When systems are altered in ways that cannot be easily reversed, the impacts are not theoretical – they show up directly in fewer fish, displaced herds, and diminished experiences. When habitat fragments or water quality declines, opportunity declines with it. 

This is why TRCP engages selectively and strategically in conserving nationally significant landscapes where habitat is irreplaceable and long-term sporting opportunity depends on stewardship. 

When we step into the arena, we intend to make it count. 

A Record of Stewardship – and a Responsibility to Continue 

For more than two decades, TRCP has worked alongside hunters, anglers, landowners, and elected leaders from both parties to conserve landscapes that define American sporting opportunities. 

In Wyoming’s Wyoming Range, we helped secure the withdrawal of 1.2 million acres of the Bridger-Teton National Forest from mineral entry, safeguarding critical habitat for one of North America’s most important mule deer herds. In Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front, we supported efforts to maintain the integrity of a landscape long valued for elk, native trout, and backcountry access. In Alaska’s Bristol Bay, we mobilized sportsmen and women to help sustain one of the world’s most productive wild salmon fisheries. 

These efforts were not about opposing development everywhere. TRCP supports responsible development projects needed to benefit our economy, protect national security, and advance the interests of the United States, and we will work with decisionmakers and businesses to advance sensible projects. But certain landscapes—because of their ecological integrity, sporting value, and national significance, including the significant economic contributions they make through outdoor recreation and conservation investments —warrant durable safeguards.  

That same principle guides our engagement in Alaska’s Brooks Range, one of North America’s last largely intact hunting and fishing landscapes. The very qualities that hunters and anglers value the most about the Brooks Range—the unbroken expansiveness, the lack of human activity, the unmatched solitude—are simply incompatible with a major industrial access corridor.

Across administrations and political shifts, TRCP has approached this work steadily and pragmatically, grounded in science and focused on lasting outcomes for fish, wildlife, and the sporting community. 

The Boundary Waters: Stewardship in Practice 

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the surrounding Rainy River watershed form one of the most intact freshwater systems in the country. These cold, connected waters sustain lake trout, walleye, and smallmouth bass, while the broader landscape supports moose, deer, and waterfowl—and it is all linked by more than 1,100 lakes and historic portage trails that allow people to experience this wildlife-rich landscape by canoe.  

TRCP has engaged in this region with that responsibility in mind. In 2023, we joined several of our partners in celebrating the 20-year mineral withdrawal in the Rainy River watershed because of its national significance to hunting and fishing and the long-term risks sulfide-ore copper mining poses in such an interconnected system. 

Our position has remained consistent: where development presents a high likelihood of irreversible harm to fisheries, recreation, and wildlife habitat—and where sporting interests broadly agree that conservation is needed – long-term stewardship is the prudent course.

The recent letter from Roosevelt’s descendants reinforces that tradition of foresight and bipartisan responsibility. Safeguarding places like the Boundary Waters reflects a continuation of America’s conservation ethic. 

For hunters and anglers who believe stewardship requires participation, speaking up is part of that responsibility.  

Take action through the Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters alert: Senate Resolution : Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters 

The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. 

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