He directly identified America with the nation's wilderness and believed that our western frontier heritage had shaped American values and culture. The President wanted the United States to change from exploiting natural resources to carefully managing them. This was especially significant during a time where Industrialization was beginning to cause environmental problems for the country. He worked with Gifford Pinchot, head of the Forestry Bureau, and Frederick Newell, head of the Reclamation Service, to redefine the government's idea of conservationism. In 1902, Roosevelt signed the Newlands Reclamation Bill, which used money from federal land sales to build reservoirs and irrigation systems to promote agriculture in the West. During his second presidency, he used his executive power to further his conservation agenda. He made control of natural resources a federal affair, taking much power away from local and state governing bodies. By giving the federal government this power, he was able to order for over 150 million acres of land to be put in government hands. This land is what we know today as our national parks and wildlife refuges.
Theodore Roosevelt did not want to abolish big business because he thought it was vital to the economy. However, he did feel that the government had the right to regulate big business to protect the welfare of American society. Whereas past presidents had used the Sherman Antitrust Act sparingly, it was Theodore Roosevelt who really put the act into practice. In 1902, a lawsuit was filed against the Northern Securities Company, one giant combination of railroads led by JPMorgan and other wealthy financiers. In 1904, the Supreme Court ordered the dismantling of the monopoly because it was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Roosevelt further regulated the nation's railroads by legalizing the distribution of rebates to large shippers through the Elkins Act and by giving the Interstate Commerce Commission power to regulate railroads shipping rates (Hepburn Act).