The Conference of Governors was held in the White House May 13–15, 1908 under the sponsorship of President Theodore Roosevelt. Gifford Pinchot, at that time Chief Forester of the U.S., was the primary mover of the conference, and a progressive conservationist, who strongly believed in the scientific and efficient management of natural resources on the federal level. He was also a prime mover of the previous Inland Waterways Commission, which recommended such a meeting the previous October. On November 13, 1907, the President issued invitations to the governors of the States and Territories to meet at the White House on those dates. This 1908 meeting was the beginning of the annual governors' conferences, now held by the National Governors Association.