New emphasis has been placed on the care of our national parks. A ten year
development program of our National Park System--Mission 66--was initiated
and 633,000 acres of park land have been added since 1953.
Appropriations for fish and wildlife operations have more than doubled.
Thirty-five new refuges, containing 11,342,000 acres, have been added to
the national wildlife management system.
Our Nation's forests have been improved at the most rapid rate in history.
The largest sustained effort in water resources development in our history
has taken place. In the field of reclamation alone, over 50 new projects,
or project units, have been authorized since 1953--including the billion
dollar Colorado River Storage Project. When all these projects have been
completed they will have a storage capacity of nearly 43 million
acre-feet--an increase of 50 percent over the Bureau of Reclamation's
storage capacity in mid-1953. In addition, since 1953 over 450 new
navigation flood control and multiple purpose projects of the Corps of
Engineers have been started, costing nearly 6 billion dollars.
Soil and water conservation has been advanced as never before. One hundred
forty-one projects are now being constructed under the Watershed Protection
Program.
Hydroelectric power has been impressively developed through a policy which
recognizes that the job to be done requires comprehensive development by
Federal, State, and local governments and private enterprise. Teamwork is
essential to achieve this objective.
The Federal Columbia River power system has grown from two multipurpose
dams with a 2.6 million kilowatt capacity to 17 multipurpose projects
completed or under construction with an ultimate installed capacity of 8.1
million kilowatts. After years of negotiation, a Columbia River Storage
Development agreement with Canada now opens the way for early realization
of unparalleled power, flood control and resource conservation benefits for
the Pacific Northwest. A treaty implementing this agreement will shortly be
submitted to the Senate.
A farsighted and highly successful program for meeting urgent water needs
is being carded out by converting salt water to fresh water. A 75 percent
reduction in the cost of this process has already been realized.
Continuous resource development is essential for our expanding economy. We
must continue vigorous, combined Federal, State and private programs, at
the same time preserving to the maximum extent possible our natural and
scenic heritage for future generations.