Belief Backpack Heroes: Theodore Roosevelt & John Muir – Guardians of the Wild

What if a single camping trip could change the future of an entire country?

In this episode of Faithfully Explore!, Laura takes listeners back to 1903 for one of the most important outdoor adventures in American history... the legendary Yosemite camping trip between President Theodore Roosevelt and naturalist John Muir.

Together, these two unlikely friends slept beneath giant sequoias, listened to wind that sounded like an “ocean in the sky,” and talked late into the night about protecting wild places for future generations. That campfire conversation helped shape the creation and expansion of America’s National Parks system, including stronger protections for Yosemite National Park.

Through immersive storytelling, interactive sound games, and meaningful reflection, children explore:

1. What conservation means
2. Why leadership and friendship matter
3. How teamwork can create lasting change
4. What it means to protect something for kids 100 years from now

This episode also builds a Friendship Bridge across cultures, highlighting how environmental stewardship appears in Indigenous traditions, Islamic teachings (khalifah), Jewish values (bal tashchit), and the Baháʼí Faith.

In This Episode

1. The real story behind “The Camping Trip That Changed America”
2. Guess That Sound: Wilderness Edition
3. The power of a “Plus One” partnership
4. How 230 million acres of land were protected

Belief Backpack Takeaways

✔ Protect something today for someone 100 years from now

✔ Find your “plus one” to help you make a difference

✔ Listen to people who see the world differently

✔ Care for the earth as a shared responsibility

Keep Exploring

Want to dive deeper?

1. Read about the 1903 Yosemite trip
2. Visit a local state or national park
3. Plan a family nature day
4. Start a mini conservation project in your neighborhood

Because once a wild place is gone… its sounds disappear.

But when we protect it? The crackle of cedar, the owl’s call, and the ocean-in-the-sky wind can last through the ages.

Thank you for exploring with us. Stay curious. Stay kind. And keep being guardians of the wild.

What if a single camping trip could change the future of the whole country?

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What if the person pitching a

tent beside you was the president?

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Hi, I'm Laura, and this

is Faithfully Explore!

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Close your eyes for a second.

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Imagine you are standing in a

forest, but not just any forest.

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The trees are so tall, they seem to touch

the clouds, and they are so wide that if

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you and 10 friends held hands, you still

couldn't reach all the way around them.

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This is Yosemite, and today we're stepping

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It wasn't a mission with soldiers or

spies, it was a mission involving a

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campfire, some toasted bread and a

friendship that saved the map of America.

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So zip up your Belief Backpack.

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Our adventure is about to begin.

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Faithfully Explore! Intro:

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faithfully Explore!

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is the name.

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Learning together is our aim.

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Beliefs around the globe we'll track,

filling up our Belief Backpack.

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Laura: Our story begins in the year 1903.

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To understand this mission, you

have to meet two very different men.

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First there was Theodore Roosevelt.

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He was the president, a leader known for

his huge energy and love of adventure.

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He had a big mustache, round

glasses, and a booming laugh.

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And then there was John Muir.

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He was a nature explorer, a

naturalist, with a long, wild

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beard and twinkling eyes.

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While the president lived in a mansion.

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Muir spent so much time in the wilderness

that people said he was part mountain

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man, part wise wizard of the woods.

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Muir didn't just like

nature, he adored it.

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He once wrote to his sister, "the

mountains are calling, and I must go."

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That was his way of saying he felt

invited by nature to explore its beauty.

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He once walked 1000 miles from

Indiana to the Gulf of Mexico just

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to see the plants and flowers.

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He didn't use a map.

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He just followed his heart and the stars.

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He even had a special trick.

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He would climb to the very top of a

tall tree during a windstorm just to

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feel the world breathing and swaying.

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Now you might wonder what brought

the hurricane president and

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the mountain wizard together.

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Well, Roosevelt had been reading Muir's

books and he was getting worried.

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Muir warned that the wild forests

and animals were in danger.

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Trees were being chopped down too

fast, animals being hunted too much.

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Many people back then thought nature

was so big it could never run out.

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Here's the scary part, explorers.

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In 1903, many people looked at these

ancient forests, and didn't see beauty.

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They saw money.

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They wanted to chop the giant

trees into floorboards and turn the

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meadows into dusty sheep pastures.

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John Muir was worried.

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He felt like the forests were his

family and his family was in trouble.

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He needed a hero, and that's when the

letter arrived, stamped with the seal

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of the President of the United States.

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In the letter President Roosevelt

said, "I want to drop politics

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absolutely for four days and just

be out in the open with you."

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When John Muir received the President's

invitation, he was a bit surprised.

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First, Muir wasn't eager to guide

a government official around.

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He was 65 years old and had other

plans, but his friends convinced him

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this trip could be really important.

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So he wrote back and agreed saying

he'd take the president into the wild.

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Little did they know this camping

trip would become legendary.

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Some people call it the camping

trip that changed America.

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Fast forward to May, 1903.

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President Roosevelt takes a long

train ride out west to California

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where Yosemite is located.

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Roosevelt is super excited.

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He's dressed in rugged camping

clothes and ready for adventure.

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When he arrives in the little town near

Yosemite, everyone comes out to see him.

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Crowds cheer because it's

not every day the president

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visits, let alone to go camping.

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Roosevelt meets John Muir

for the first time there.

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Imagine the scene.

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Roosevelt 44 years old, grinning ear to

ear, and Muir 65 with his big bushy beard.

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Both shaking hands warmly,

even though they had just met.

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They shared that spark of people

who both love the outdoors.

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They hop into a stage coach,

that's like an old fashioned wagon

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ride, and head into Yosemite.

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Roosevelt even makes his staff

and the reporters stay behind.

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He just wants to be a normal camper.

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As they reach Mariposa

Grove evening is falling.

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This grove is home to the giant

sequoias, some of the biggest

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and oldest trees on Earth.

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When Roosevelt sees them, he is amazed.

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These trees tower above like living

skyscrapers, some over 200 feet

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tall and thousands of years old.

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Now, the president's staff had tried

to help by setting up a fancy camp

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with heavy furniture and silver plates.

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They thought a president needed

to be pampered, but when Roosevelt

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saw it, he shook his head.

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So they ditched the fancy stuff.

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John Muir showed him a trick.

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They gathered some pine branches and

lay them on the ground for bedding under

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the shelter of the huge Sequoia trees.

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Imagine the president of the

United States sleeping on a bed of

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pine needles he gathered himself.

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He told Muir it was the grandest

bed he had ever slept in.

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As the campfire crackled that night,

Roosevelt and Muir talked for hours.

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Muir told stories about the geology

of Yosemite, how glaciers carved

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the valley ages ago, and pointed

out constellations in the clear sky.

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He also spoke passionately about

the need to protect such places.

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He warned the president that trees

were being cut down so fast that

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if they didn't act soon, there

might be nothing left to save.

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Roosevelt listened carefully.

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A great friendship was being

formed, built on a shared belief

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that nature is worth protecting.

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Explorers, scoot a little closer

to our imaginary campfire.

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Cup your hands behind your ears.

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We're about to play.

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Guess that sound?

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Sound number one, listen carefully.

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What do you think that is?

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Is it

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A, someone stepping on crunchy leaves?

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B, cedar wood burning in a campfire, or

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C, someone eating a bowl

of breakfast cereal.

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That's right.

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It's cedarwood, snapping

and crackling in the fire.

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The kind of sound that makes you feel

warm even on a chilly mountain night.

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Okay, next one, listen.

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Is that

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A, a, train whistle.

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B, the wind in a tunnel, or

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C, a great horned owl.

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Yes, it's a great horned owl

calling through the dark forest.

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Imagine hearing that echo between giant

trees taller than the skyscrapers.

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Now this one is special.

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Close your eyes if you want.

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Listen.

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Hmm.

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Almost like waves crashing on a

beach, but you are not near the ocean.

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What could it be?

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Is it

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A, a waterfall

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B.

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The wind moving through the

tops of giant Sequoia trees or

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C, a far away thunderstorm.

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It's the wind in the sequoias.

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And here's the amazing part.

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When wind moves through normal trees,

it whispers, but when it moves through

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trees as tall as buildings, it sounds

like a giant ocean way up in the sky.

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Roosevelt and Muir

called it an ocean sound.

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Can you make that sound with your voice?

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Take a deep breath and go.

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Whoosh.

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That's it.

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You just made some mountain wind.

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Roosevelt and Muir sat there

listening to that sky, ocean sound.

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Not just talking about trees, they were

talking about the future, about kids who

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would live 100 years later, kids like you.

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They wanted to make sure that someday

you would still be able to hear the

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crackle of cedar, the call of an

owl, and the ocean in the sky wind.

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Because once a wild place is gone.

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Those sounds disappear.

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And they believed protecting nature

meant protecting those sounds for us.

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And can I tell you something personal?

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I love our national parks.

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I really, really do.

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Every time I step into one, I feel

small in the best way, like I'm standing

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inside something bigger than myself.

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I have a goal, and it's a big one.

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I want to visit every single

national park before I die.

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That's over 60 parks.

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Mountains, deserts, swamps,

volcanoes, glaciers.

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Why?

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Because I wanna see the wild

places Roosevelt helped protect.

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I want to stand where

history and nature meet.

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And every time I visit one, I think

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friends talking about the future.

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Maybe one day I'll run into one of

you in a park somewhere, and we'll

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both know this place exists because

someone cared enough to protect it.

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The next morning in 1903,

president Roosevelt and John

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Muir woke up to a surprise.

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A blanket of snow covered them.

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Roosevelt woke to find himself

covered in snow and he loved it.

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He supposedly laughed and shook

the snow off saying it was one

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of the best nights he'd ever had.

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Imagine that the president who could be

in a fancy White House bed was happier

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sleeping in the snow under the stars.

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After brushing off the snow,

Roosevelt asked Muir eagerly

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to show him the real Yosemite.

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He didn't want the easy tourist tour.

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He wanted to explore the wilderness.

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For three days.

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Roosevelt and Muir rode horseback

and hiked through Yosemite's

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stunning scenery with no crowds.

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No distractions, just nature all around.

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They trekked through tall, dark

forests and across flowering meadows.

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They stood on high cliffs with

waterfalls spraying mist in the sun.

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Roosevelt who was already an outdoors

man, was like a kid in a candy

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store, exclaiming at everything.

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Muir knew every peak and valley.

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And he enthusiastically taught Roosevelt

the name of each bird and tree.

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Every night they camped out under

the open sky, and every night by

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the campfires glow Muir kept pouring

out his heart about conservation,

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the idea of preserving nature.

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He argued that these beautiful

places should be protected by the

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government so that they couldn't be

destroyed by logging or development.

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And Roosevelt completely agreed.

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When their adventure came to an

end Roosevelt and Muir emerged from

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the wilderness dirty, tired, and

absolutely brimming with ideas.

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They had bonded as friends.

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Roosevelt had gotten what he came for,

a true escape into nature, and more

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importantly, a vision for the future.

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The two men shook hands and

bid each other farewell.

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They would never meet in person

again after this trip, but neither

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of them would ever forget it.

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Now, what do you think Roosevelt did

after returning to Washington DC?

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He had to go back to wearing suits and

attending meetings, but he carried a

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spark from that campfire in his heart.

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He was determined to turn

their talks into action.

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Roosevelt immediately pushed for

more protection of wilderness.

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He worked with Congress and used his

presidential powers to set aside areas

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of land as national parks, national

monuments, and national forests.

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In fact, he even created the US

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manage and protect forests.

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During his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt

helped save about 230 million acres of

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America's wild lands for the future.

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Thanks to him, places like the

Grand Canyon were protected and five

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new national parks were created.

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He also established 18 national

monuments and 51 wildlife refuges.

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He even set aside a beautiful redwood

forest in California and named it Muir

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Woods in honor of his friend John Muir.

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John Muir inspired by the success

of their camping trip, continued

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writing and advocating for nature.

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He saw one of his big dreams come true.

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Yosemite became a national park in 1906,

just as he'd asked Roosevelt to do.

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Muir kept inspiring people to love

the wild, and he is often called

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the Father of the National parks.

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Think about it.

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Without Roosevelt and Muir's

Adventure, we might not have

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national parks like we do now.

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Their belief in stewardship

of the earth or caring for

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nature spread to many others.

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It became a core value for Americans

and people around the world.

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In fact, after that trip, Roosevelt

famously reminded everyone, we are not

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building this country of ours for a

day, it is to last through the ages.

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He wanted people to think

about the future, not just

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use up nature for quick gains.

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Because of that attitude, millions

of visitors for generations have

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enjoyed Yosemite and other parks the

same way Roosevelt and Muir did back

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in 1903, marveling at their beauty.

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let's cross our friendship bridge.

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Roosevelt and Muir weren't the only

ones who believed in protecting

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nature all around the world.

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People from different faiths

and traditions share this belief

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in stewardship of the earth.

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The idea that we are responsible

for caring for our planet.

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In indigenous Australian cultures, people

speak of caring for country, honoring

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their land as sacred and full of spirit.

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In Islam, humans are Khalifa

or stewards meant to care for

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the earth as a trust from God.

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In Jewish teachings, the idea

of Bal Tashchit teaches not to

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waste or destroy needlessly.

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And in the Bahai faith, the earth

is seen as a sacred gift to be

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preserved for future generations.

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As we cross this bridge

together, we see we're not alone.

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People everywhere are holding hands

across generations and continents

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protecting the same beautiful planet.

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What's inside our belief

backpack this week?

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First, the power of the plus one.

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Muir knew the trees.

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Roosevelt knew the laws.

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Alone they were just one guy in

the woods or one guy in an office.

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But together they were a force of nature.

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So who is your plus one?

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Who can you team up with to clean

up a park or help an animal?

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Second, the future thinking lens.

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Roosevelt said, we aren't building this

country for a day, but for the ages.

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Next time you see a tiny sapling

or a small bird, tell yourself, I'm

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protecting this for the kids who

will be here in a hundred years.

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That makes you a time traveling hero.

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Third, let's also notice how

unlikely this friendship was.

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One was rich and powerful.

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The other lived simply in the wild.

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They could have ignored each

other, but instead they listened

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and learned from each other.

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We too can become friends with people

who aren't just like us, especially

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if we share a common goal or value,

and who knows what great things

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might come from such friendships.

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Explorers, when you look up at a

tall tree or see a bright star in

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the night sky, I hope you'll remember

this story of Roosevelt and Muir.

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Two friends under those same

stars who help save the forest and

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mountains out of love and belief.

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Maybe someday you'll go camping in a

national park and feel that same magical

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connection to nature, and maybe you'll

tell your own stories around a campfire.

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Inspiring new friends to

protect something beautiful.

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Thank you for adventuring with me today.

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Until our next adventure, stay

curious, stay kind, and keep exploring

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the wonderful world around you.

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Faithfully Explore! Outro:

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Faithfully Explore!

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is about you.

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Let's grow kinder together it's true!