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The Antiquities Act and National Parks Tours The Antiquities Act was a piece of legislation that was put forth by Theodore Roosevelt in order to protect areas within the United States from development.  Roosevelt believed that there were portions of the United States that were so beautiful or historically significant that they needed to be preserved forever, and the only way to ensure that these spaces remained unspoiled was to use the power of federal legislation to prevent their sale to private individuals or companies.  Roosevelt knew that if land is privately held it will probably be developed sooner or later, changing the landscape from one of natural beauty to one of development for the purposes of either industry or for the sale of private residences.  Either way the area would be lost in its natural form, and Roosevelt wanted to ensure this would not happen.  The problem is that there is a difference in opinion as to what entails a space that should be preserved and what does not.  Naturally, nobody specifically wants to destroy natural areas, but industry understands that in order to sustain a population of people a certain amount of loss has to occur.  The debate is essentially about what land qualifies and what land does not. The political climate in the United States has always been divided, and generally this resulted in legislation being put forth that takes both sides interests into consideration to a certain degree.  In recent years however, the climate has become so polarized that both sides are no longer attempting to negotiate for the well being of both, and instead are simply forcing through legislation that will appease their own side when they gain enough power to do so.  Executive orders are being used to completely reverse decades of standing legislation,