100 quarter

Theodore Roosevelt National Park Honored on Quarter

U.S. Senator John Hoeven (R, ND) along with other state and federal officials Thursday announced a new commemorative quarter dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Thursday also marked the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, first created on August 25, 1916 by United States President Woodrow Wilson, 10 years after President Theodore Roosevelt created the U.S. Forest Service.

“Theodore Roosevelt National Park, like all of our national parks, preserves not only our beautiful natural landscape, but also our cultural and historical legacy as a nation,” Hoeven said in a press release. “Teddy Roosevelt ranched in this country in the years before statehood, and if he were here with us today, I believe he would be proud and pleased that we have preserved this park for ourselves and our posterity.”

The coin depicts Roosevelt on horseback surveying the terrain near the Little Missouri River and has inscriptions of “Theodore Roosevelt,” “North Dakota” and “E Pluribus Unum.”

The coin commemorates Roosevelt for his contributions to the conservation of natural heritage, and his role in laying the groundwork for the nation’s 56 national parks, the press release said.

The release of the coin is part of the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act, passed by Congress in 2008 and put into law by President George W. Bush. The act authorizes the minting of quarters commemorating national parks.

Hoeven, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a press release that the committee has approved a $20 million program that will match donations dollar for dollar in order to leverage support for the national park system, notably critical infrastructure investments.

The Theodore Roosevelt National Park quarter is the second commemorative coin honoring North Dakota. In 1997 Congress created the 50 State Quarters Program. Two bison grazing in the North Dakota Badlands was the design chosen for the first coin.

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