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Show Chapter 2 National Objectives WE AS A PEOPLE are embarked on a great adventure in the conservation of resources. Our objectives will determine not only what water resources are bequeathed to future generations, and in what condition; they must further point to the kind of economic and social environment we want to hand down. In the existing world crisis it would be natural for some to hold that the first objective of total conservation should be total defense. And we might see our objectives as a sound resources base for the production of armaments and munitions. But further thought would greatly broaden our concept of the importance of resources con- servation and development in this period of ideological conflict. For the ultimate place of victory or reconciliation in such conflicts is not so much the field of battle, as the minds of men. A sound and effective conservation program will prove, perhaps, the most powerful weapon in securing the salvation of our civilization. All peoples-those who are considered ad- vanced in the scientific and technical arts of modern living as well as those who are con- sidered backward-are measuring the strength and validity of social systems not in rocket planes, tanks, proximity fuses, and atom bombs, but in what such systems offer in the way of ample and abundant living. This must include not only use of resources in agriculture and industry, but also in culture, recreation, and opportunity for things of the spirit. One of the lessons of history that must be ever before us, in dealing with resources planning in a period of conflict like the present, is that victori- ous wars may pave the way for the ultimate de- cline of a people as well as for the ultimate destruction of the way of life for which they are fighting. So the Commission would define the great objective of a sound national water resources policy as the strengthening of our way of life on a more enduring basis. In order to visualize this objective more clearly, we may subdivide it into three closely interrelated parts. The first would be the provision of a secure and expanding natural resources base for an expand- ing national economy, and its development as a stimulus to the expanding needs of that economy. The second would be the development of the resources of the several regions to provide a, stimulus for sound regional economies. The third would be the participation of citizens generally through their educational institutions, their nongovernmental organizations, and their agencies of State and local government. Resources for an Expanding Economy Water resources development, pervading as it does most phases of economic activity, has some influence on almost every aspect of national economic interest. Thus, for example, the co- ordinated development of water resources has a direct and immediate effect upon agricultural and 37 |