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In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an executive order making East Timbalier Island on the Louisiana coast one of the nation& #39;s first wildlife refuges. He put @audubonsociety in charge of the island.
Times-Picayune, 1907: "Roosevelt readily consented to the lands being placed in charge of (Audubon), of which (he) is a strong supporter, and whose efforts to protect birds & game from the depredations of unscrupulous hunters are in accordance w/ his strong views on the subject."
Roosevelt toured Louisiana& #39;s barrier islands, including East Timbalier, in 1915. He was a hardcore birder, and scribbled tons of notes about the pelicans, skimmers, terns and other birds he saw.
Roosevelt wrote a long article about his trip in Scribner& #39;s. He compared Louisiana& #39;s barrier island& #39;s to Europe& #39;s greatest works of art.
Here& #39;s some film footage from his his first stop (Breton Island) on the trip (with some pretty sweet old-timey piano music) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbRp2DqkiXM">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
In 1969, the Nixon administration revoked East Timbalier Island& #39;s protections. Not much coverage at the time. Only reference I could find was in the federal register:
The number of oil wells, canals and pipelines on East Timbalier increased. Spills happened and walls were built to halt erosion. The state began trying to save the island in the & #39;90s, but finally gave up this year: https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_7c9bfb34-9c6b-11ea-819e-d32606b97a31.html">https://www.nola.com/news/envi...
