<P> The conservationists, led by future President Theodore Roosevelt and his close ally George Bird Grinnell, were motivated by the wanton waste that was taking place at the hand of market forces, including logging and hunting . This practice resulted in placing a large number of North American game species on the edge of extinction . Roosevelt recognized that the laissez - faire approach of the U.S. Government was too wasteful and inefficient . In any case, they noted, most of the natural resources in the western states were already owned by the federal government . The best course of action, they argued, was a long - term plan devised by national experts to maximize the long - term economic benefits of natural resources . To accomplish the mission, Roosevelt and Grinnell formed the Boone and Crockett Club in 1887 . The Club was made up of the best minds and influential men of the day . The Boone and Crockett Club's contingency of conservationists, scientists, politicians, and intellectuals became Roosevelt's closest advisers during his march to preserve wildlife and habitat across North America . Preservationists, led by John Muir (1838--1914), argued that the conservation policies were not strong enough to protect the interest of the natural world because they continued to focus on the natural world as a source of economic production . </P> <P> The debate between conservation and preservation reached its peak in the public debates over the construction of California's Hetch Hetchy dam in Yosemite National Park which supplies the water supply of San Francisco . Muir, leading the Sierra Club, declared that the valley must be preserved for the sake of its beauty: "No holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man ." </P> <P> President Roosevelt put conservationist issue high on the national agenda . He worked with all the major figures of the movement, especially his chief advisor on the matter, Gifford Pinchot and was deeply committed to conserving natural resources . He encouraged the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902 to promote federal construction of dams to irrigate small farms and placed 230 million acres (360,000 mi or 930,000 km) under federal protection . Roosevelt set aside more federal land for national parks and nature preserves than all of his predecessors combined . </P> <P> Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five national parks, and signed the year 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new national monuments . He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 national forests, including Shoshone National Forest, the nation's first . The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately 230,000,000 acres (930,000 km). </P>

Who made major contributions to environmental protection in the early 1900s