Major Land Conservation Efforts Undertaken by U.S.
The following are major federal land conservation actions undertaken in the United States:
* President Theodore Roosevelt adds 150 million acres to the national forest system and in 1905 establishes the U.S. Forest Service. National forests today cover 192 million acres.
* The National Park System is created under a single federal agency in 1916, covering about 7 million acres. Today, the park system covers more than 360 units and about 80 million acres.
* Congress approves the Wilderness Act in 1964, creating the National Wilderness Preservation System and making the United States the first country to give legal protection to wild lands. Originally 9 million acres, federal wilderness today accounts for nearly 100 million acres.
* Congress enacts the Alaska Lands Act in 1980, setting aside under federal protection more than 100 million acres of Alaska land as parks, refuges and federal wilderness areas.
* President Clinton expected to direct that the U.S. Forest Service develop regulations to protect about 40 million acres of roadless federal forests from development.
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