Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
284839086
label
White House Press Release
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
284839086
contentType
document
title
White House Press Release
citationUrl
collections
White House Press Release Files (Truman Administration)
White House Press Releases
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
284839086
levelOfDescription
item
productionDates
day
10
logicalDate
1946-08-10
month
8
year
1946
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
323f27695e464645
ocrText
# 824
385
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 10, 1946
MEMORANDUM OF DISAPPROVAL
I have withheld my approval from H. R. 4435, "To establish
the Theodore Roosevelt National Park; to erect a monument in memory
of Theodore Roosevelt in the village of Medora, North Dakota; and
for other purposes."
The area that would be established by this bill as the
Theodore Roosevelt National Park does not possess those outstanding
natural features or scenic qualities that would justify its establish-
ment as a national park and has no direct historical association with
Theodore Roosevelt. Neither the Maltese Cross Ranch, in which
President Roosevelt had an interest, nor the Elkhorn Ranch, which he
owned, are embraced within the proposed park area. The Maltese Cross
Ranch is situated some distance south of Medora, North Dakota, while
the proposed national park area is situated north of Medora. The
Elkhorn ranch is situated thirty-five miles north of Medora, and is
a considerable distance from the proposed park.
The land within the proposed national park area is now a
part of the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge, and is
best fitted for use as a wildlife protection and management area.
Prior to its inclusion within the Refuge, it was a part of the
Roosevelt Recreational Demonstration Area, which consisted of sub-
marginal land acquired originally by the Resettlement Administration
for recreational demonstration purposes. The area is largely of a
badlands character, the formations being rounded, mostly dark red
in color, and interspersed with grass-covered flats and plateaus.
It is not of national park caliber.
Existing or authorized national parks contain or relate to
areas that possess scenic, scientific, or historic features of
outstanding national significance. The same high standards should
be maintained whenever national parks are established in the future.
I feel strongly, therefore, that to confer national park status upon
the area described in H.R. 4435 would be an unwise departure from
sound policy. If a national park is to be established in honor of
Theodore Roosevelt, it should more fully measure up to the standards
developed and maintained in the past for national parks.
I may add, in this connection, that the bill contains a provi-
sion with respect to the determination of the validity of the title to
the lands in question, which provision I would have considered sufficiently
objectionable to justify a disapproval of the measure, entirely aside
from the above indicated reasons for its disapproval. I refer to the
provision for the determination, by the Secretary of the Interior in-
stead of by the Attorney Genral, of the validity of the land titles
in question. This duty of examining the titles of lands acquired
by the Government has, for more than a century, been vested in the
Attorney General with respect to the vast majority of acquisitions, and
I perceive no reason to change this general practice which has proven
satisfactory through the years.
Accordingly, I am constrained to withhold approval from
H. R. 4435.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
THE WHITE HOUSE,
August 9, 1946