This podcast is sponsored by L.L. Bean, who makes it easy and fun to simply step outside.

That might be breaking a speed record in a rugged built-for-fun Sonic Snow tube, walking an extra block in a warm weather resistant down jacket, or just taking a breath on your doorstep before cozying up in a quilted sweatshirt.

For however you experience the outdoors, shop clothing and gear at

L.L Bean.com. Be an outsider. What do a brownstone in the heart of New York City, a site near the Canadian border in Buffalo, a forested island in Washington, D.C. and the sprawling North Dakota Badlands have in common.

They're all units of the National Park Service named for Theodore Roosevelt.

Theodore Roosevelt birthplace National Historic Site preserves a replica of the home where Roosevelt spent his first years of his life.

Theodore Roosevelt inaugural National Historic Site pays tribute to his emergency

inauguration as President, immediately following the death of President McKinley in Buffalo, New York. Theodore Roosevelt Island serves as a memorial to this important president,

who is not represented by one of the major monuments or memorial centered around the National

Mall and tidal basin in Washington, and the crown jewel of the parks

named for him Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota embodies the outdoorsman who played

a pivotal role in conservation in the United States.

But why so many parks for one man?

I'm Jason Epperson and this is the America's National Parks Podcast. Theodore Roosevelt was more than a powerful politician. His influence as a conservationist is legendary.

How did this city boy grow into an outdoorsman in nature conservation champion?

In school, we learned a few things about Theodore Roosevelt.

He was president of the United States before we were born.

He was a distant relative of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was more familiar to kids because

his likeness appears on the dime. And the teddy bear was named after him,

although he never cared for the nickname Teddy.

Indeed, he had a long and storied political career.

From New York State Assembly to New York City

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