Vitally important are the water and minerals, public lands and standing
timber, forage and wild-life of this country. A fast-growing population will
have vast future needs in these resources. We must more than match the
substantial achievements in the half-century since President Theodore
Roosevelt awakened the Nation to the problem of conservation.
This calls for a strong Federal program in the field of resource
development. Its major projects should be timed, where possible to assist
in leveling off peaks and valleys in our economic life. Soundly planned
projects already initiated should be carried out. New ones will be planned
for the future.
The best natural resources program for America will not result from
exclusive dependence on Federal bureaucracy. It will involve a partnership
of the States and local communities, private citizens, and the Federal
Government, all working together. This combined effort will advance the
development of the great river valleys of our Nation and the power that
they can generate. Likewise, such a partnership can be effective in the
expansion throughout the Nation of upstream storage; the sound use of
public lands; the wise conservation of minerals; and the sustained yield of
our forests.
There has been much criticism, some of it apparently justified, of the
confusion resulting from overlapping Federal activities in the entire field
of resource-conservation. This matter is being exhaustively studied and
appropriate reorganization plans will be developed.
Most of these particular resource problems pertain to the Department of the
Interior. Another of its major concerns is our country's island
possessions. Here, one matter deserves attention. The platforms of both
political parties promised immediate statehood to Hawaii. The people of
that Territory have earned that status. Statehood should be granted
promptly with the first election scheduled for 1954.