The Big Burn - Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America - Book Report/Review Example

The first part (14-101) of The Big Burn sets up the conflict between business interests and preservation interests. Write a short essay in which you argue that there is a conflict between these forces and what the potential results of that conflict are. Big Burn is a book about a fire that broke out in America. The author talks about the people who attempted to prevent the fire and the consequences. It is quite evident from the book that there existed conflicts between the conservatives and people with business interests.

The essay aims at exposing these conflicts and the consequences of the fire. Egan starts by showing the relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot. Both men shared a passion of saving the land from illegal mining, logging and development. Roosevelt forms the Forest Service and places Pinchot in control of the outfit. Pinchot appoints Yale’s forestry program graduates in the department, to help prevent forest fires. Nevertheless, influential people in Congress who want to exploit the forests rather than preserve them, denies the newly formed Forest Service funds for more supplies and rangers (Egan 16).

An Idaho Republican Weldon Heyburn opposed all of the Roosevelt’s attempts to preserve forestry. He was a serious foe of Pinchot, and their forestry science and any roadblocks standing in the way of Big Companies taking the lands for commercial use. Weldon combined forces with the House speaker Cannon who denounced Roosevelt’s undying effort to save forests for coming generations. He proclaimed. “Not a single cent for scenery?” (Pierce 10-14) they waged war Pinchot and his colleges claiming that they aimed to defund the Forest Service.

In the summer of 1910, an unprecedented drought becomes witnessed in the Northwest region. Fire from the sparks of the newly built line engulfs the forest fueled with the high blowing winds. Pulaski, few volunteers, and a number of rangers attempt to fight but are not able to subdue it. They run to a mining tunnel, but not all of them survive. The government turns its back on the heroic actions of Pulaski and the volunteers by not providing them with medical help. From the fire, a policy gets implemented that allows firms to harvest trees existing in the national forests and in return they fund the Forest Service.

It was wrong for the government to ignore this men and women who sacrificed their lives to save the natural resources. The government could have portrayed these citizens as heroes of the nation (Egan 23). After the fire, the people of America realized that fire was terrible, and it cannot be controlled. It became evident that people were needed in the rural areas, to be able to prevent fires from happening. America, during this era, had no interest in conservation of the forest, but in protecting natural resources to enable them develop homes, hospitals and schools (Pierce 10-14).

In conclusion, the fire showed how volatile and dangerous nature can be. It also identifies the importance of the people who fought to; prevent logging in the forests, maintain high conservation standards, and protect the forest. These people fought day and night to put a sense of immense pride in the nation, rather than taking everything they could get from the natural resources. Even if, America planned to protect land for all the evil reasons, the coming generations will see the importance of protecting land.

Works Cited Egan, Timothy. The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Pierce, Kingston. "Gone to Blazes." January Magazine (2009): 10-14.