TY - JOUR T1 - US Perspective JF - Journal of Soil and Water Conservation SP - 131A LP - 132A VL - 62 IS - 6 AU - Maurice G. Cook Y1 - 2007/11/01 UR - http://www.jswconline.org/content/62/6/131A.abstract N2 - As an older member of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, I am intrigued, challenged, and sometimes overwhelmed by the nature and diversity of issues that the society is addressing today. Moving from one session to another at the 2007 annual conference, I was both impressed and baffled by the subject matter of the scientific and technical presentations. I heard about bioenergy with its corollaries of biofuels and biodiesel. I listened to discussions of carbon and several of its ramifications such as sequestration and credit trading. The wildlife people were there to talk about biodiversity conservation and management. As I reflected on what I had seen and heard at the conference, my mind wandered back about 20 years when I was president of the society. Most of the issues being discussed today were not on our agenda then. I can only conclude that we are in a new era of soil and water conservation. While I applaud the Soil and Water Conservation Society for being on the cutting edge of current conservation issues, I hope we will not forget the time-liness—and urgency—of some subjects that have been with us for awhile. One that particularly concerns me and … ER -