1882 Chester A. Arthur - Protecting National Forests

Today, the United states has 154 National Forests covering almost 300,000 square miles. The first National forest, Yellowstone Park Timber and Land Reserve was established in 1891. Teddy Roosevelt was considered the champion of the forest preservation because he increased the amount of land over 400% during his administration. But it was President Chester A. Arthur during his second annual address who first identified destruction of our forests as a dire problem. He even tied deforestation to climate change. In 1882, Chester A. Arthur urged congress to take action:

"The condition of the forests of the country and the wasteful manner in which their destruction is taking place give cause for serious apprehension. Their action in protecting the earth's surface, in modifying the extremes of climate, and in regulating and sustaining the flow of springs and streams is now well understood, and their importance in relation to the growth and prosperity of the country can not be safely disregarded. They are fast disappearing before destructive fires and the legitimate requirements of our increasing population, and their total extinction can not be long delayed unless better methods than now prevail shall be adopted for their protection and cultivation. The attention of Congress is invited to the necessity of additional legislation to secure the preservation of the valuable forests still remaining on the public domain, especially in the extreme Western States and Territories, where the necessity for their preservation is greater than in less mountainous regions, and where the prevailing dryness of the climate renders their restoration, if they are once destroyed, well-nigh impossible."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29523
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._National_Forests
http://www.celebrate-earth.com/origins-of-forest-reserves/
http://feelgrafix.com/944616-national-forest.html
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Gallatin_National_Forest.jpg

Christian roots

Time, very recently did a piece on the National Forests and it's roots in Christianity, stating the presidents who expanded it were mostly Presbyterian. Harrison, Cleveland, Roosevelt ... no mention of Arthur. Understandably so, since the National Forest System did not yet exist. Arthur was Episcopalian by the way.

http://time.com/.../teddy-roosevelt-christian.../