The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1947-12-06
SPEECH OF PRESIDENT

~ 1A1S~Ah re ltEollJEIy
Continued From Page One)
majesty and beauty of onr coun.
try.
These are the peoples parks,
owned by young and old, by
those in the cities and those on
the farms. Most of them are ours
today because here were Amer
leans many years ago who exer-
cised vision, patience, and unset
fish devotion in the battle for
conservation. gag
Each national park possesses
qualities distinctive enough to
make its preservation matter
| OF concern to the whole Nation.
Certainly, this Everglades area
has more than its share of feat
ures unique. to these United
States. Here are no lofty peaks
seeking the sky, no mighty gia,
ciers or rushing streams wearing
away the uplifted land. Here is
land, tranquil in its quiet beauty,
serving not as the source, of wa.
ter but as the last receiver of
it. To its natural abundance we
owe the spectacular plant and
animal life that distinguishes
this place from all others in our
country.
Our park system also en-
braces such national shrines as
Jamestown Island, the Statue of
Liberty, and the battl8fields of
Yorktown. and Gettysburg.
These historic places--as much
as the scenic areas-also need to
be protected with all the devo-
ton at our command in these
days when we are learning
again the Importance of an un-
derstanding loyalty to our ma
tional heritage.
"Our parks are but one part of
the national effort to- conserve
our natural resources. Upon
these resources our life as a ma
ton depends. Our high level of
employment and our extraordi-s
nary production are. being lin,
tied by scarcities in SOME items
of our, natural s.Wsalth. This is.
the time to develop and replen-~
ish our basic resources,
Conservation has been prac-
ticed for many decades and
preached for many more, yet
only in recent years has it be-
come plain that we cannot af-.
ford to- conserve in a haphazard
or piecemeal manner No part
of our conservation program can
be sighted if we want to make
full use of our resources and
have full protection against flu
ture emergencies. q:
!, IF we waste our minerals by
careless mining and processing
we shall not be able to build the
machinery to till the land. II
we, waste the forests BY careless
numbering. We shall lack housing
and construction materials for
factory, farm, and mine. If we
waste the! water through failure
to build hydroelectric plants, we
shall burn our resources of coal
and oil needlessiy. If we waste
our soil through erosion and fail
ure to- replenish our fields, we
shall destroy the source of our
peoples food. b, !,
Each conservation need is de-
pendent on1the others. A slashed
and burned forest brings erosion
of uplands and fills downstream
reservoirs with silt so that water
power is lessened and irrigated
farms lose their water supplies.
Eroded farmlands contribute to:
devastating floods. Uncontrolled
rivers mean lost electricity,
farms without water, and peren-
NAL and increasing flood dan
ger.
To maintain our national
wealth we must engage in full
and complete conservation of all
our resources.
Full conservation of our ener-
gy resources can be accomplish
ed by continued construction OF
dams, 'hydroelectric plants and
transmission lines; by. greater
use of natural gas. by research
for, more efficient methods Of
extraction of coal and Oil and