Presidential Policy Paper No. 3: Conservation of Natural Resources.

WHEN America began there seemed no limit to the riches of the earth. Then came a time of reckless exploitation and ruthless plunder. Greed and ignorance combined to lay waste our resources and threaten our domain with destruction. Farsighted and courageous men--men like Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and John Kennedy--acted to halt decay, preserve our splendor, and develop our resources. That battle still goes on. We intend to win it.

But three changing forces are bringing a new era to conservation.

The first is growing population. By the year 2000 more than 300 million Americans will need 10 times the power and 2½ times the water we now consume. Increasing pressure will take our resources and increasing leisure will tax our recreation.

The second is the triumph of technology. The bright success of science also has a dark side. The poisons and chemicals, the junked automobiles, and the waste products of progress are threatening the destruction of nature.

The third is urbanization. More of our people are crowding into cities and cutting themselves off from nature. Access to beauty is denied and ancient values are destroyed. Conservation must move from nature's wilderness to the man-made wilderness of our cities.

All of this requires a new conservation.

We must not only protect from destruction but restore what has been destroyed--not only develop old resources but create new ones--not only save the countryside but salvage the cities.

It is not just the classic conservation of protection and development, but a creative conservation of restoration and innovation.

Its concern is not with nature alone, but with the total relation between man and the world around him. Its object is not just man's welfare but the dignity of his spirit.

Above all, we must maintain the chance for contact with beauty. When that chance dies a light dies in all of us. We are the creation of our environment. If it becomes filthy and sordid, then the dignity of the spirit and the deepest of our values are in danger.

And once nature is destroyed or beauty blighted it can rarely be restored. It is gone forever. It is our children who will bear the burden of our neglect. We owe it to them to keep that from happening.

We have made progress. The 88th Congress-the greatest conservation Congress in our entire history--passed more than 30 important conservation bills.

A new land and water conservation fund will help States and cities set aside spots of beauty for recreation and pleasure.

A Wilderness Act will guarantee all Americans the natural magnificence which has been your heritage.

A Water Research Act will speed development for the soaring water needs of a growing nation.

We established continental America's first new national park in 17 Years--23 new national park areas--and 4 new national seashores--and a national riverway.

We began a new Bureau of Outdoor Recreation so that our children will have a place to hunt and fish and glory in nature.

We began construction of over 200 water resource projects with about 70 more scheduled for 1965.

We built or began more than 5,500 miles of transmission lines.

Flood control funds were increased by more than 50 percent.

We have explored the wonders of modern science pressing ahead with research into every area of resource development--using the atom for power--sending satellites to predict weather--moving toward the day when we can make fresh water from the oceans, oil from shale, and harvest the riches of the sea. All this we have done, and more.

I pledge my administration to continue this progress.

But we must do more than continue. Our problems are changing, and we must change to meet them.

In the development of a new conservation I intend to press ahead on five fronts.

First, we seek to guarantee our children a place to walk and play and commune with nature. The demand on our recreational facilities is doubling each decade. We must act boldly or our future will be barren. We will move vigorously under our recent laws to acquire and develop new areas for recreation--emphasizing areas of concentrated population. We will expand our programs to meet developing needs.

A national program of scenic parkways and riverways is on the horizon.

I hope to make the Potomac a conservation model for our metropolitan areas.

In our cities open space must be reserved where possible, and created where preservation comes too late.

Second, we must control the waste products of technology. The same society which receives the rewards of technology must, as a cooperating whole, take responsibility for control. I intend to work with local government and industry to develop a national policy for control and disposal of technological and industrial waste. In this way we can rescue the oldest of our treasures from the newest of its enemies.

Third, we must increase mastery over our environment through the marvels of new technology. This means rapidly increasing emphasis on comprehensive river basin development. We will cooperate with government at every level to develop all the resources while preserving all the scenic promise of an entire region. The scale of our programs must match the scope of our problems.

It means drawing fresh water from the oceans. Within a few years, economic desalination will be a reality for large numbers of Americans.

It means learning to understand the weather and become its master. Weather satellites, deep sea nuclear weather stations, are part of a developing technology which will ultimately make it possible not only to talk about the weather, but do something about it.

It means the use in every field of the newest knowledge to meet the oldest needs. And it means encouraging the development of the genius of man in order to unlock the secrets of the earth.

Fourth, we must prevent urbanization and growth from ravishing the land. At this moment a working group is studying ways to protect the integrity of nature in cities and suburbs. The nation is growing. We want that growth to be a blessing and not a blight.

I will propose--in cooperation with local government and private industry--policies to help ensure that suburban building, highway construction, and industrial spread are conducted with reverence and regard for the values of nature.

Fifth, we must conduct conservation on a global scale.

The oceans and atmosphere are the property of all people. Scientific discoveries in one land can benefit all nations. There are no political boundaries in man's ancient and continuing struggle for mastery over nature.

The Antarctic Treaty, weather and fishery agreements, and the Columbia River treaty with Canada are examples of what can be done if nations will devote common effort to common interest.

These are some of the fronts of the new conservation which I will work to carry forward.

It is often difficult to invest, when results may be a generation or more away. So many immediate needs crowd around us. But our history is witness to the wisdom of investment in our natural resources. It has returned its cost many times. And it has preserved the patrimony of America. I deeply believe in economy and prudence in government--we must be mindful of the financial debt we leave to our children. But I do not want to leave them the tragic and irretrievable debt of a devastated land and dwindling resources.

From the beginning we have been a people of open spaces. We have lifted our eyes to the deserts and mountains, and now to the stars. But on this earth the ring draws closer around us. Let us have space and resources, here in America, to fit our children's hopes.