There has been a fundamental misconception that conservation means nothing but a husbanding of resources for future generation. There could be no more serious mistake. Conservation does mean provision for the future, but it means also and first of all the recognition of the right of the present generation to the fullest necessary use of all the resources with which this country is so abundantly blessed. Conservation demands the welfare of this generation first, and afterward the welfare of the generations to follow. Pinchot also applied his idea of conservation to development of the rivers.
Conservation stands emphatically for the development and use of water-power now, without delay.
It stands for the immediate construction of navigable waterways under a broad and comprehensive plan as assistants to the railroads. More coal and more iron are required to move a ton of freight by rail than by water, three to one. In every case and in every direction the conservation movement has development for its first principle, and at the very beginning of its work. The development of our natural resources and the fullest use of them for the present generation is the first duty of this generation. He felt it was the duty of society to develop the rivers in order to conserve non-renewable resources such as coal and iron that the railroad industry was consuming rapidly by transporting freight.