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The 1908 Conference of Governors brought government and business leaders together to protect natural resources and “conserve the foundations of our prosperity.” Leaders today should also extend political thinking beyond narrow parameters, writes environmental historian Adam M. Sowards. “Proceedings of a conference of governors in the White House, Washington D.C., May 13-15,1908” by Conference on Conservation of Natural Resources, Washington, 1908. Courtesy of Internet Archive<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n by<\/em>\u00a0ADAM M. SOWARDS\u00a0|\u00a0AUGUST\u00a017,\u00a02023 (ZocaloPublicSquare.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the turn of the 20th century, floods, fires, and waste plagued the United States. Industries burned through resources and blew toxins into the air, with few restrictions. States and federal governments were only beginning to approach questions of the environment and did so in piecemeal ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1907, responding to the need to improve transportation, President Theodore Roosevelt tasked the Inland Waterways Commission with studying how to better manage rivers. The commissioners recognized a need for interstate coordination in this effort. Two in particular\u2014Gifford Pinchot and William John \u201cWJ\u201d McGee\u2014went further. They asked Roosevelt to invite all the country\u2019s governors to Washington to discuss the pressing issues of water and natural resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roosevelt complied, inviting the governors of all the states and territories, along with representatives from hundreds of civic, economic, and media organizations, to the White House. The resulting Conference of Governors, beginning on May 13, 1908, and lasting three days, offered a glimpse of political and economic collaboration that extended beyond normal boundaries of party, state, industry, and even time. The conference represents a not-so-distant precedent for today\u2019s need to extend our political thinking beyond narrow parameters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the New York Times,<\/em> the Conference of Governors\u2019 unprecedented composition and purpose promised \u201chistory-making possibilities<\/a>.\u201d The paper reported 44 governors attending, though the published proceedings identified 36. Alongside them, four at-large members were invited to \u201crepresent the public,\u201d which appears to have meant ensuring the discussion integrated economic concerns: steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, railroad executive James J. Hill, labor leader John Mitchell, and Democratic mainstay William Jennings Bryan. Finally, 500-some representatives from myriad organizations\u2014trade associations, unions, publications, and the like\u2014joined as observers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the opening dinner, the attendees dined with Supreme Court Justices, members of the Cabinet and Congress, and other prominent officials in the White House\u2019s state dining room while the United States Marine Band<\/a> played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, Roosevelt\u2019s concerns about the risks to the \u201ccontinuance of the Nation\u201d have transformed into warnings about global catastrophes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the night\u2019s pomp, the tone of the following day\u2019s conference was serious, even somber. According to Roosevelt\u2019s opening address, \u201cConservation as a National Duty<\/a>,\u201d nothing less than the \u201ccontinuance of the Nation<\/a>\u201d was at stake. During the 50-minute speech, interrupted by frequent nonpartisan applause<\/a>, the president asserted the importance of cooperative planning and for elevating community rights over individuals\u2019 pursuit of riches. \u201cIn the past we have admitted the right of the individual to injure the future of the Republic for his own present profit,\u201d Roosevelt said<\/a>. \u201cThe time has come for a change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Others shared this view. The following day, railroad executive James J. Hill spoke on \u201cThe Natural Wealth of the Land and Its Conservation<\/a>.\u201d Hill spent most of his allotted time offering chilling statistics of shrinking forests, diminishing ores, and declining soil fertility. He argued that these statistics represented not only a bleak economic future but also a potentially violent political one, borne out of desperation and poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hill believed that if industry leaders understood the dire resource situation, they would manage resources more carefully. Espousing a key element of Progressive conservation doctrine\u2014that of applying sound business principles to resource management\u2014he compared the nation to a corporation and the leaders gathered as a board of directors. The \u201cboard\u201d needed to consider the resource wealth available and marshal it responsibly, he suggested, looking toward long-term investments over near-term profits, or they would ruin \u201ca national patrimony<\/a> that can never be restored.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the conference concluded, the governors approved a slate of resolutions<\/a> and presented them to President Roosevelt. The declaration reiterated the themes of resources as foundational wealth, the importance of planning, and the need to cooperate. Its final line announced the governors\u2019 intent plainly: \u201cLet us conserve the foundations of our prosperity<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the end of the three days, the governors were also eager to discuss collaborating on other matters, such as extradition laws and divorce standards. They resolved to meet regularly thereafter. That commitment eventually turned into the National Governors Association<\/a>, which now meets twice a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another effect of the summit was that Roosevelt appointed the National Conservation Commission, which would inventory the nation\u2019s resources. The commission produced a three-volume report<\/a> that appeared in February 1909 and featured a detailed accounting of the nation\u2019s dwindling stocks of various resources, including estimated dates for when they would be exhausted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These achievements were all the more striking because the Progressive Era was no harmonious nonpartisan moment. Progressives saw themselves in a battle between good and evil on behalf of \u201cthe people\u201d versus \u201cthe interests.\u201d Muckraking journalists took down corruption from city halls to corporate boardrooms. Roosevelt used the power of government to tame big business. One of the biggest victims was James J. Hill himself: Roosevelt ordered the investigation that led to the 1904 Northern Securities Co. v. United States<\/em><\/a> case that broke up Hill\u2019s holding company. Roosevelt also invited his political rival Bryan to the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, the participants overcame these differences and set their eyes on the nation\u2019s shared future. As Secretary of State Elihu Root urged in his address to the group, they performed their duties not only for their parochial interests but also for \u201cthe common good<\/a>.\u201d Pinchot later wrote that the Conference of Governors \u201ca conception of the land they lived in that was brand new<\/a>,\u201d and suggested history might remember the conference as one of history\u2019s turning points. More measured historians have called it one of the \u201cclimactic moments<\/a>\u201d of Roosevelt\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ideas journalism with a head and heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may opt out or contact us<\/a> anytime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, Roosevelt\u2019s concerns about the risks to the \u201ccontinuance of the Nation\u201d have transformed into warnings about global catastrophes. Twenty-first-century environmental concerns extend past accounting stocks of national resources. Now, researchers aim to identify thresholds of global ecological viability. Researchers at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, for instance, have investigated planetary boundaries<\/a> to determine the requirements for sustaining life. Our worries encompass the globe and question whether the planet can maintain its resilient capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the \u201ccommon good\u201d is more elusive than ever. While pulses of reform have appeared\u2014the rise of regional planning in the interwar period, the emergence of land-use planning for conservation and urban development in the 1960s and 1970s\u2014coming together over future shared interests feels like a faraway ambition. Imagine a similar conference today, in which Joe Biden invited Gretchen Whitmer, Ron DeSantis, and Elon Musk to share a stage. Commitments to base politics and baser instincts would produce only vitriol and communicate only enmity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our hyper-partisan moment, looking beyond short-term advantage has become a dwindling resource. The 1908 Conference of Governors may not have been the grand historical turning point Pinchot imagined, but it can be a touchstone. A common focus and commitment beyond party, nation, personal interest, and the present has been possible and must be again for the good of the planet and all its people. As the stakes have risen beyond a nation\u2019s supply of resources, so must the solutions and the seriousness with which policymakers, industrial leaders, and civic organizations approach the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADAM M. SOWARDS<\/a><\/strong>is an environmental historian and writer. His most recent book is Making America\u2019s Public Lands: The Contested History of Conservation on Federal Lands<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Historic 1908 Conference Transcended Party and Personal Interest for the \u2018Common Good\u2019 The 1908 Conference of Governors brought government and business leaders together to protect natural resources and “conserve the foundations of our prosperity.” Leaders today should also extend political thinking beyond narrow parameters, writes environmental historian Adam M. Sowards. “Proceedings… Continue reading GET MORE Z\u00d3CALO<\/h2>\n\n\n\n