The SWCS view

Excerpt

RECENTLY, I had the privledge of speaking to the Soil Conservation Service National State Conservationist's Conference on the subject of “Conservation in the ′90s” as seen by SWCS.

Speaking for the Society is always a pleasure when we have as guidance a 45-year record of advocating the “art and science of good land and water use,” based on time-proven principles and scientific knowledge.

In speaking to the group, my basic treatise was that during the 1990s we would continue to narrow the gap between our historic American value system and long-term sustainable resource management. It is well to remember that our value systems were built around freedom and the sanctity of private property rights. These values attracted the first settlers to this country and guided settlement and development through the first 200 years of this nation's existence. Even our Judeo-Christian theology placed much more emphasis on man's dominion than on his stewardship responsibilities. While these values served us well as a resource-rich, expanding, young nation, when the last frontiers …