Excerpt
Publication of this issue coincides with SCSA's 40th annual meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. Our theme this year is “Conservation: A Matter of Motivation.”
Conservation is truly a matter of motivation. As caretakers we must want to see the land improve. This process can be rapid or slow, depending on the interest, ability, and finances—yes, conservation does pay, but it also requires an investment up front in labor and capital.
Conservation is an individual matter. It must be fostered in the hearts and minds of people as individuals, if it is to be lasting. It must be learned by succeeding generations, as surely as we learn to read and write.
A “Conservation Ethic” arose out of the dust bowl years, along with other ethics characterized by the term “good people,” which means folks of character and concern for their fellow man, as well as the land.
I feel that the time has come for a resurgence of a conservation ethic-motivation to play an all-important role.
One need only read the morning news to see that poor land use and treatment make for poor and starving people around the world …
Footnotes
- Copyright 1985 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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