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More than a century before the first Earth Day, a young New Yorker arrived in the Badlands of Dakota Territory to hunt bison and ended up staying long enough for the landscape to remake him.
What Theodore Roosevelt saw out here — the overgrazing, the overhunting, the rivers running low — followed him all the way to the White House. By the end of his presidency, he had signed the Antiquities Act, established the U.S. Forest Service, and placed roughly 230 million acres of American land under federal protection. Five national parks. Eighteen national monuments. Fifty-one bird reserves. One hundred fifty national forests. No president before or since has done more to safeguard the American landscape.
In a 1907 speech, he put it this way:
“The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem
which underlies almost every other problem of our national life.”
— Theodore Roosevelt, speech to the National Editorial Association in Jamestown, June 10, 1907
That is the legacy this Library is built to carry forward — not as a monument to the past, but as a working expression of it. Four hundred thousand native plants going back into the ground. A building designed to produce more energy than it uses. A landscape meant to disappear into the landscape it sits on.
Happy Earth Day from the Badlands.
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Thank you, Founding Members
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Every time we walk the site, we think of you.
The roof is greening. The galleries are coming alive. The Library is weeks away from opening its doors for the first time. None of this happens without the people who believed in this place before it existed — and that is you.
Founding Members make it possible for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library to open with a foundation rooted in the values that shaped T.R.: leadership, citizenship, and conservation. Your Founding Member designation is permanent. Your name is part of this story from the beginning.
Thank you for daring greatly with us.
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Heavy construction is giving way to finish work. Across the buildings, crews are moving from structure to refinement — the part of the process where the character of a place starts to show. Early system commissioning is underway. Site work continues: trails, grading, planting, and the final integration of the exterior features that will meet participants on day one.
Every day looks a little more like July 4.
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A sneak peek inside the galleries
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Ranching Activities Gallery. Contractors are installing the video and physical interactives here — including a shooting gallery and the brand-design station, where participants will create their own cattle brand. A compass to the right of the screen will personalize the experience for every visitor who walks in.
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Storytelling Campfire. Contractors spent hours installing tiny lights in the ceiling of this gallery, which we already suspect will become a favorite. It is meant to feel like stargazing around a fire — the kind of night T.R. knew well out here.
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People’s Library Gallery. Participants will conclude their journey in a room with sweeping Badlands views and a wall made entirely of individual LED screens. It is where the whole arc of the visit comes together.
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Project photographer, Chad Ziemendorf, has been documenting the Library since the earliest days of construction. Ahead of Earth Day, we asked him to share what has stayed with him.
A few moments from his notes:
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Watching the RES crew plant 400,000 native plugs across the property — seeds harvested by hand, cultivated through the winter, and returned to the soil one plug at a time.
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A bumblebee landing on a rooftop flower last August. “It didn’t know it was on a roof. It just found what it was looking for.”
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The building, seen from a distance, disappearing into the landscape. That was always the goal — and they pulled it off.
Chad has a newsletter of his own that goes deeper on the Native Plant Project. We will share a link in a future issue. For now, the short version is this: every person on this project has treated it as a privilege. You can see it in the work.
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A sustainability milestone —
and a naming contest
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Two quick updates from our sustainability team, and one fun one.
SITES and LEED precertifications have been submitted. This is a meaningful step. The Library on track for Platinum in both, alongside the ongoing pursuit of full Living Building Challenge certification — a combination that, if achieved, would be unprecedented for a presidential library.
Earth Day in Medora. On April 22, DeMores Elementary School, Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation,and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library are partnering for a community cleanup around town. We will also be hosting a special virtual program focused on the sustainable features of the building.
Name our biodigester. The Ecotone Zeus Anaerobic Digester is on its way — a system that will live in our Land Stewardship Center and turn food waste into a liquid soil amendment the team has affectionately nicknamed “Soil Sauce.” It works a bit like a stomach. It will be used in the community garden, our medicinal garden, and — if the native plants on the roof ever need a boost — possibly up there, too.
A naming contest will open soon, and Founding Members will get first crack.
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A visit from Teddy Snowsevelt
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North Dakota has a “Name a Plow” contest every year, and this year it had a nod to Theodore Roosevelt.
Earlier this spring, Teddy Snowsevelt — the Dickinson snowplow — rolled up for a meet and greet with students at DeMores Elementary. The kids climbed in the cab, honked the horn, and learned about the heavy machinery that keeps North Dakota roads safe all winter. It was a reminder that T.R.’s legacy shows up in the most unexpected places — sometimes, literally.
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Two recent highlights:
Good Morning America — “50 Weeks in 50 States.” As part of GMA’s countdown to America’s 250th birthday, the series is visiting each state in the order it joined the Union. North Dakota’s turn came on April 15, with a feature on the state’s natural beauty and its deep ties to Theodore Roosevelt.
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WDAY in Medora. WDAY’s team spent several days with us this spring, capturing behind-the-scenes looks at the Library, the ways Medora is preparing for July, and a memorable afternoon with T.R. himself — as portrayed by longtime Roosevelt reprisor Joe Wiegand.
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New on the Good Citizen Podcast
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Host Ted Roosevelt V sat down with two guests this month whose work — in very different fields — points at the same question: how do you actually build something durable?
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Adam Met — “Climate Action, Musical Stardom, and the Art of Building a Movement” (March 27). Adam Met is not your typical celebrity activist. The bass guitarist for multi-platinum indie-pop band AJR is also a climate policy writer and the co-author of Amplify, a field manual for building movements that last. Adam joins Ted to talk about what a four-hour conversation with Glenn Beck taught him, why he let AJR’s fans assemble an entire album, and how he helped shepherd the bipartisan Co-Location Energy Act through both chambers of Congress.
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Sarabeth Berman — “What Dies When Local News Does: The Crisis Nobody’s Covering” (April 10). What’s really at stake when a community loses its local newspaper? Civic engagement drops. Polarization rises. Corruption goes unchecked. Sarabeth Berman, CEO of the American Journalism Project, argues local journalism should be treated like any other essential public good — a museum, a food bank — and is proving it can be, through the first venture-philanthropy organization dedicated to local news.
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Our online Shop is live — and as a Founding Member, you are getting first word.
The collection is thoughtfully curated, inspired by T.R.’s spirit of exploration and conservation. Every item is intentionally designed and carries the legacy forward — drawing from archival influence while staying rooted in practical, modern use.
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Tickets — Selling Quickly
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Ticket sales are moving quickly. July 4th is near-sellout, and the Founding Benefactor Days (July 2–3) are filling in. If you have not yet claimed your Founding Member tickets, now is the moment.
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How much do you know about the pets that the Roosevelt family brought to the White House?
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Upcoming Virtual Programs
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The Library’s virtual programming continues this spring — and the next four sessions are worth putting on your calendar.
In just five days, join our curatorial team for Behind the Scenes at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, a curator talk offering an early look inside the galleries as we move through final installation. Three author conversations follow: Nancy Churnin on her children’s book A Teddy Bear for Emily — and President Roosevelt, Too, the story of the encounter that gave the world a beloved stuffed bear; Jeffrey Rosen on The Pursuit of Liberty, a reflection on American ideals from one of the country’s leading constitutional voices; and James Blase on Theodore Roosevelt’s Brotherhood of America, exploring the civic vision T.R. carried through his public life.
All programs are free and open to anyone — a great way to be part of the Library before the doors open in July.
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Host your event at the Library
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The Library is now accepting bookings for private events.
From intimate gatherings to larger celebrations, our spaces — overlooking the Badlands, shaped by the landscape itself — offer a setting unlike any other venue in the country. If you have been thinking about a meeting, a milestone, or a moment worth marking, we would love to help you imagine it here.
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Give the gift of a Founding Membership
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Time is running out to become a Founding Member — and a Founding Membership also makes a wonderful Mother’s Day or spring birthday gift. The designation is permanent. The person you give it to becomes part of this story from day one.
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Support the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and help bring this vision to life. Every gift—at every level—plays a role in building a place that will inspire leadership, conservation, and citizenship for generations to come.
In recognition of this support, every benefactor will be honored on the Library’s virtual donor wall, ensuring their contribution becomes a lasting part of the TRPL story.
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The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is growing—and we’re hiring across a wide range of roles as we prepare for opening in 2026. From guest experience and education to operations, facilities, and leadership positions, there are opportunities to be part of building and activating a new kind of presidential library.
Join the team helping bring this vision to life in Medora and shape an experience that will inspire visitors for generations to come.
Explore open positions and apply: https://www.trlibrary.com/careers
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