John F. Lacey - Father of Conservation, Saver of Buffalo

868 views · Published 27 November 2008 · 7:52 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: Iowa PBS · 2008 · People & Blogs

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In the early 1900s, Major John Fletcher Lacey was known far and wide as “the father of the American conservation movement.” He hailed from Oskaloosa, Iowa, and had a background as a lawyer for the train industry. It was from a train that he realized that the American West could be impoverished by American appetites. 

It was John F. Lacey who, along with his friend William T. Hornaday, spurred the government to save the buffalo from extinction. In addition, Lacey became a U.S. Senator, and in this position wrote much of the legislation that started describing and saving lands for National Parks. 

He realized that poaching was a problem in Yellowstone, and in response, he helped form the Park Service, which at first was a police agency against poaching. He also wrote legislation regarding Yosemite and Sequioa National Parks, among others. 

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