Evening star., 1950-04-21
Let Us Think Before It's Too Late
To the Editor Of The Stcr:


advantage Of all of us unless the issues
are faced with intelligence. energy and
promptness.
An admiring visitor from a foreign
capital once called Washington city
in the woods" We who live here are apt
to forget the forested tracts which ex-
tending through Washington make 1t
unique among the cities of America and
perhaps of the world. But If we take for
granted our green oases we shall lose
them. Washington will cease to be what
it is now-the most livable Of our great
American cities.
Destruction of the remaining wild
spots in private ownership In and around
Washington Is proceeding rapidly. AT
the same time, the most important pub
licly-owned remnants Of Washingtons
former natural setting are marked for
despoilage.
II the ''improvers" have their way. the
steamshoves and bulldozers will soon
be at work in Rock Creek Park and
in Glover -Archbold Park. cutting the
wooded slopes for new superhighways.
The Glover -Archbold Park will be vir-
tually destroyed If another recently.
announced project succeeds, acres Of new
buildings will soon stand in the Soldiers
Home grounds where now Is rural area
of grassland and forest.
A new scenic" highway is being pro-
tected up the Potomac to Great Falls.
on one bank or the other. or both.
threatening the scenery to which 1t is
meant to give access. The forests OF
Virginia would be leveled, and the green
seclusion of the canal, on the Maryland
side, would be opened to the blare and
fumes of four-lane traffic.
Whatever new construction is re-
ouired. whether for highway, hospital.
or a stadium, it is always easier to use
land which has not yet been built upon.
It is always less expensive Gin terms OF
immediate money COSTS to cut away for
ests and grasslands than to remove even
the shabbiest buildings. whose owners
have to be compensated. For every
project involving the destruction OF an
other unspoiled area, the most impress
sive arguments can always be adduced.
Let us think before 1t is too late Of
what we have to lose.
We must have places where we can
relax. The human soul must be pro.
vlded with the conditions Of health.
Otherwise, we shall become race OF
neurotlcs.
For most of us there is no restorative
like that of returning to the SOIL The
open sky behind grassy knoll, the rich
smell of earth around a meandering
stream, the shade beneath the leafy.
interlocking boughs of forest trees, the
play of the wind on marsh-grass where
the heron stands-these things provide
a measure of that inner tranquility we
seek in vain among the distractions OF
entertainment. The motor car, the
radio, the motion picture, television can
no more effect this rejuvenation than
bromides can provide the repose Of
natural sleep.
Other cities have devoted their energies
to improving their material facilities,
their plants and structures and trans
portation systems. They have developed
the means of living, while losing what
life is for. They are now discovering the
fantastic costiiness of creating refugees
from their own enormity-even the
tiniest parks-when all the land has been
built upon.
We have in our parks and in the frag-
ments of countryside still remaining on
our outskirts-though fast disappearing
what other cities would give 10 times
our annual budget to possess. 1t is too
late for them. The most elaborate build
ings can be duplicated. but once CEN
turies-old forest is felled, once a Wild
fowl marsh Is drained, it is gone for good.
When new highways are needed. let
us enlarge existing streets. The con-
demnation of developed properties will
affect the few, not despoil the many.
Washington is growing not only out from
its borders but upward from within. The
density of its population is increasing.
New apartments are springing up. Even
If we hold on to every inch of our parks,
the pressure of population upon them is
certain to grow ever greater. With in
creasing population we need, if anything,
more open land, not less.
Let us protect the upper reaches of
the Potomac. Let the highway be built
well back from the river and spare what
it is meant to take us to. The Garden
of Eden itself would afford small COM
fort and inspiration from the steering
wheel of the thousandth car in line of
traffic.
The first step for us to take is to make
sure that our parks will remain in
violate. But that is not enough. Unless
the proportion of built-up areas to park
areas is going to be dangerously in
creased, large-scale programs of acquisi-
tion by the National Park Service and by
local communities are imperative. Wash
ington is being ringed by urban and
suburban developments. Alexandria, for
example, has no parks at all On the
Maryland side, Rock Greek Park should
have been extended the full length of
Rock Greek itself for the benefit of fu-
ture inhabitants or urban areas on both
sides Of 1t. But the city has closed in
across the northern end. and Rock Creek
Park. instead of forming a strip Of
woods and fields taking us into the open
country, is now an island within the
Metropolitan area. Such Is also the sit
uation OF the other streams that flow
into the District. They form natural
park areas and should have been saved.