in south dakota saved. each ground site was a battle whether the federal government have this land or not. and each state has a local hero. and i tried to focus on those people. so my book is not a new york/washington book per se. some states i focus on are washington, oregon, hawaii, alaska, florida, mississippi, oklahoma, virginia. i took the battle to a lot of these places, and hopefully giving a new generation of environmental heroes to look at. the beauty of oregon coast was a real battle out there to save it. or the islands off of san francisco, and these are all t.r. last one, roosevelt in hawaii,

look to the west of hawaii heading to asia. roosevelt saved all of that for bird sanctuaries. and not just that, he threatened war with japan, when they tried to kill birds on the islands. and he threatened war, and roosevelt heard that a group of japanese field hunters came on american seals, and he would not, he was gearing up for war if need be with japan over seals. when i use the title "wilderness warrior." this was a whole other thing. you can't understand the essence of theodore roosevelt if you don't understand darwin

and the understanding of america. >> who introduced roosevelt to darwin? >> it's interesting, roosevelt's father was an early reader of darwin. t.r. when 14 or 15, he was in egypt and he writes about darwin. in fact, brian, in my book he draws out how we evolved from the stork. roosevelt has himself evolving from an stork. and draws pictures from it and shows his brother evolving from apes. darwin's species came out in 1858. and by the time that roosevelt went to harvard in 1878, majoring in natural studies,

darwin was the rage. and i argue in this book that darwin is the center figure in roosevelt's intellectual life. and what some don't agree with in roosevelt's life, and the biggest power in the world. that's one side, and he erroneously ventured into darwinism a bit. and he had his understanding of natural resource management and how you save species and entire environments. he was a great lover of the prairie. and theodore roosevelt felt more comfortable in kansas or nebraska. he would get sea sick, he would go to panama and puerto rico,

he is writing about birds. field notes of birds. and he saved the forest in these areas. and he is president and controlled the properties and had a huge concern of saving the ecosystem. >> why the white gloves? >> they make you wear it here. they do in a lot of archival places. and this document you can call the bird of fish and wildlife in that map. >> has that been seen outside of here? >> you would have to ask mark, i don't know. probably online or on the pelican island site. c-span should go to pelican island, because there is a

board walk, and each refuge with a plank. and goes out with this view. if you do a family vacation in florida, go to pelican island, and this has a rare patch in florida. >> where is it in florida? >> when i stay there, i stay in vero beach, between st. augustine and palm beach. and dean darling, a young cartoonist that roosevelt adopted for conservation. and he was spectacular. and roosevelt created the national forest in florida that links the atlantic to the gulf. if you look on the map, you see a green swatch of national

forest and that's an area he reserved. >> i have been interviewing you, and how do you know about all of this? >> i love history, and you know brian, i have micromemory. >> photographic? >> i don't know if it's that, but my enthusiasm is high, and i incorporate that. this opened my eyes and i wrote the book to the parks, and not thinking of the back story of how we got the system. we are looking for good news in america, i will give you a good news story. look at park system, and national parks and forest. and we did that right and now have an obligation to maintain it properly. >> how do you when do you your research keep track of it all? what is your system?

>> well, latest historian steve ambrose told me abandon knowledge on your own peril. and things happen day-by-day, and you get in danger to switch around dates. and writing wise i stay chronological. and then i get the dates of all the saved. and the date he declared something, i have that date. so i have t.r.'s biography and the date of the places and be sure they intersect. and you know enough about politics, you don't create an evergrades national park or grand canyon if there wasn't a fight. who is the champion that got the result, and then i try to bring them into the story. so i am dealing with two

timelines and a cast of characters. >> where do you put it? on cards or sheets of paper? >> yeah, sheets of paper, notebook after note back, and yellow legal pads and spiral notebooks. and i put boxes by states. and i wanted diversity, i wanted devil's tower in wyoming. and have that box. and then he went to the big horns in wyoming. and i would arrange in different ways. i think in terms of geographical places. i am influenced by my environment, and the place i went to, i wrote about. and then i collected like a stamp collector, and on the

petrified forest. >> and so you are finish, and how are you accurate? >> it's the thing you worry about, and i get ill if you feel there is a mistake. and someone writes an e-mail and say i will correct in the next edition. but in this manuscript, i sent chapters to all the people in the parks, because they helped me. >> mark madison. >> him i sent him the manuscript and had someone in florida to look into it. and if i went to -- you get the idea. donald wraster a writer, and is

exclam -- recorpation and donald i would send chapters and could you give me feedback. everyone i sent a chapter to found something wrong. in this case i didn't get a big wrong, a word change. the winds blew from the southeast, and they can't, it's the northeast. and that microlevel, i am a bird lover, and i would send to specialists to be sure i am not misidentified bird species. because they are very particular. >> you have your hand on first-edition books, how much do you trust those? >> one of the things people ask

me, how do you write so much. you did this in your teaching. i am nothing compared to theodore roosevelt. this guy was doing five times more while running the country. this book here is his letters to his children. and it's a wonderful book, because he would write them a lot. here's a letter to his children on the love of flowers. t.r.on flowers. later in life he was a wildlife expert. puerto rican scenery, when he went down there, he is writing about masses of flowers. he goes on and on. >> have you read all the books? >> yes. >> how many books did he write? >> it depends there are so many

edited versions. and the memorial editions. but he wrote 30 of his own titles. some people say over 50. if he gave a speech, they made it into a book. he didn't make the letters to my children, it's his writing but done later. >> can it be true that he read a book a day? >> yeah. >> how can he be the president of the united states, write books and the antitruster, and read a book a day. >> his mind went at such a rapid pace. and i notice that people read a lot read quicker. because he knew how to read. and he ran all the classics, even in the woods he would bring the pigskin editions.

and what was unique, he focused on naval history and military history. >> how much navy experience? >> the first book he wrote at harvard was summer birds. and wrote about birds in new york. and his second book was the navy war of 1812. and that made him a navy strategist and became the assistant secretary of the navy. he would juggle with navy and this boon and crockett club on top. and roosevelt just didn't know about gray wolves are cougars, he was the world's authority.

in a science way. and the co-founder of the boon and crockett book, and it was formed to save the big game of america. buffalo and antelope and deer to prevent from being extinct. these are great books that roosevelt got involved and it was about gentlemen hunters. they were working to save animals to shoot animals. some people have problems with that today. it was the hunters of america that formed the early conservation movement. it was done by feed and forest magazine and field and stream. but those sporting journals, that put in you have to have

bag limits. you have to put a fish back if it has eggs. you have to not shoot a doe. and we take this for granted. and the scholar at ohio university, and he proved chapter on garnel, because he's another important figure. garnel was the american authority on game. >> who pays for all of your travel to all of these sites and this research done? is that part of what the publisher promises you? >> yeah, they give you an advance and i squander on the traveler and make no money. this book on roosevelt was very expensive for me. >> do you know how much it cost? >> i don't, i rent the cheapest car i can and stay at a modest

inn. but i have been doing it since the 90's. and it adds up from a lifestyle point of view, it probably doesn't add up to do a book of this nature. but once you do a heavy-footnoted book, and the next i could do at home without so much travel. >> last question, how did you know it was over, this book was finished? >> i ended the book, i wrote the chapters on his ex-presidency. and my subtitles are t.r.'s america and when he was leaving the white house. and so the reader can see what this man accomplished in america. so i end the book in 1909. and i do my next volume on how

roosevelt influenced a whole new generation, including young franklin roosevelt, and planting trees and trying to be like teddy roosevelt. and f.d.r. and others got involved. i am doing another volume. this book begins in 1858, at his birth, and end at the era of global warming. the time of now and through a multiple volume history. >> thank you. >> brian, thank you.

>> from a history standpoint where did you find the artifacts and materials? >> that's a good question, most of the materials we have came from fish hatcheries from the field. almost everything is donated by field offices. so these historic things that doug brinkley has written about, were in garages and attics and suffering from deteriator. and once we opened an archive, it was filled in 10 years, so researchers can use them. >> the thing that motivates us

is that rachel carlson and much of her materials went into the insenerator. and we will never let that happen again. >> who put them in the incinerator? >> they saw no value back then. >> put rachelcarlson in history? >> she plays with the american environmental movement. which has different concerns than roosevelt. more holistic concerns of toxins and pollutants. concerns about species, past and predators. and she's the touch point of the environmental movement. and when that begins, 1901 with

theodore's conservation moves. >> you told me earlier you have a son named theodore. >> yeah, no coincidence, he's name in honor of theodore roosevelt. he's had so many qualities, and he loves nature, and so does my four-year-old. and he made a difference. >> chase, you have a facility with rooms to rent. a facility that people can come in and put on a conference and all of that. how does that relate to the outside world. and can just the average company and organization rent it? >> the important thing to remember about this place, it's a center for conservation leadership. and that doesn't just mean the federal government, but everyone involved in conservation. whether the fed's, the state or

nongovernment or corporations. and the only way to address the conservation challenges in the future is between partnerships across those sectors. so it's open for people to come from any sector it talk about conservation. and to try to figure out solutions to the challenges. >> but you just can't walk through the front door. >> no, not open to the public, but if you are interested in research, we are happy to have you out. >> you say anyone, do you have to have credentials for research? >> the archives are open, and historical outlets have used us, and we have worked with the smithsonian and walt disney. we serve a broad subsection of the public. >> fit this in the government

structure, who is the boss of the boss of this kind of place? >> well, we work for the u.s. department of the interior. overall it's the secretary of the interior, and above that it's the president of the united states. we work for what administration is there. >> what is the budget for an operation for a year? >> our budget is a little more than $23 million a year. and that gives us more than 600 events a year and more than 6,000 people coming through the programs. >> in history how much are we spending on this effort compared to 50 years ago? >> i don't think we were spending much money 50 years ago, i am first fish and wildlife personnel and that's 10 years. and in the last 10 years, we

created a history program. and we run tight, we don't purchase artifacts. we manage an archive and museum. >> so both of you could have what you wanted to make this better, what would you ask for? >> what i would ask for is for the public, the general public in the u.s. to all know who the fish and wildlife service is. we have dedicated form -folks that do great work and a lot of people don't know that we exist. >> how many people in the united states come under this umbrella? >> we have 800 centers and manage thousands of acres. >> mark, what would you wish? >> i wish that everyone would manage the environment, and enjoy the environment. at a park and refuge.

that's where we get our constituency, that's where our future lies. >> gentlemen, thank you. >> thank you.

>> next week on "q & a," author, walter kirn, is a memoir of his time in princeton university in the 1980's. "q & a" next sunday at 8 p.m. eastern, here on c-span. coming up, british prime

minister, gordon brown, speaks of the fate of iraq. later a look at highlights of newly elected speaker of the house of commons and lords. tomorrow on "washington journal" a political roundtable of faiz shakir. >> "washington journal" is live at 7 a.m. eastern, here on c-span. >> how is c-span funded? >> publicly funded. >> donations maybe, i have no

idea. >> government. >> c-span gets its funding through taxes. >> sort of a federal funding. >> how is c-span funded? 30 years ago, american cable companies created it as a public service of the a private initiative. >> the prime minister has been caught red-handed. and if he believes in transparency and honesty and truth in public life. he would get up and say, i am sorry, i got it wrong, i gave the wrong figures, here the right ones. now do it. >> now from london, prime minister's questions from the british how the of commons. this week john birduron is

speaking since been elected on monday. and later gordon brown answers questions on the iraq war and government spending plans. . rebuild gaza city. >> questions to the prime minister, patrick hall. >> may i welcome you to your first prime minister's questions as speaker of the house. >> mr. speaker, before listing my engagements i'm sure the whole house will wish to join me in sending our sincere condolences to the family and friends of shaun birchel the welsh guard who was killed in afghanistan last week. he died serving our country and the people of afghanistan. his death reminds us how difficult s