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America the Beautiful Act honors Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation legacy

by Brian Yablonski and Simon Roosevelt, opinion contributors - 10/25/26 9:00 AM ET

by Brian Yablonski and Simon Roosevelt, opinion contributors - 10/25/26 9:00 AM ET

FILE – This photo provided by the National Park Service shows a sign marking the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park on May 7, 2018. (Jacob W. Frank/National Park Service via AP, File)

Theodore Roosevelt always went big. That was especially so with our national landscape. He left America a remarkable conservation inheritance. During his presidency, he protected some 230 million acres of public land — roughly one-third of all federal land that exists today — and helped establish conservation as an enduring American ideal.

More than a century later, honoring that legacy requires more than protecting land.…