President Lyndon B. Johnson's
Special Message to the Congress on Conservation
and Restoration of Natural Beauty
February 8, 1965
To the Congress of the United States:
For centuries Americans have drawn strength and inspiration
from the beauty of our country. It would be a neglectful generation
indeed, indifferent alike to the judgment of history and the command
of principle, which failed to preserve and extend such a heritage
for its descendants.
Yet the storm of modern change is threatening to blight and
diminish in a few decades what has been cherished and protected
for generations.
A growing population is swallowing up areas of natural beauty
with its demands for living space, and is placing increased demand
on our overburdened areas of recreation and pleasure.
The increasing tempo of urbanization and growth is already
depriving many Americans of the right to live in decent surroundings.
More of our people are crowding into cities and being cut off
from nature. Cities themselves reach out into the countryside,
destroying streams and trees and meadows as they go. A modern
highway may wipe out the equivalent of a fifty acre park with
every mile. And people move out from the city to get closer to
nature only to find that nature has moved farther from them.
The modern technology, which has added much to our lives can
also have a darker side. Its uncontrolled waste products are menacing
the world we live in, our enjoyment and our health. The air we
breathe, our water, our soil and wildlife, are being blighted
by the poisons and chemicals which are the by-products of technology
and industry. The skeletons of discarded cars litter the countryside.
The same society which receives the rewards of technology, must,
as a cooperating whole, take responsibility for control.
To deal with these new problems will require a new conservation.
We must not only protect the countryside and save it from destruction,
we must restore what has been destroyed and salvage the beauty
and charm of our cities. Our conservation must be not just the
classic conservation of protection and development, but a creative
conservation of restoration and innovation. Its concern is not
with nature alone, but with the total relation between man and
the world around him. Its object is not just man's welfare but
the dignity of man's spirit.
In this conservation the protection and enhancement of man's
opportunity to be in contact with beauty must play a major role.
This means that beauty must not be just a holiday treat, but
a part of our daily life. It means not just easy physical access,
but equal social access for rich and poor, Negro and white, city
dweller and farmer.
Beauty is not an easy thing to measure. It does not show up
in the gross national product, in a weekly pay check, or in profit
and loss statements. But these things are not ends in themselves.
They are a road to satisfaction and pleasure and the good life.
Beauty makes its own direct contribution to these final ends.
Therefore it is one of the most important components of our true
national income, not to be left out simply because statisticians
cannot calculate its worth.
And some things we do know. Association with beauty can enlarge
man's imagination and revive his spirit. Ugliness can demean the
people who live among it. What a citizen sees every day is his
America. If it is attractive it. it adds to the quality of his
the life. If it is ugly it can degrade his existence.
Beauty has other immediate values. It adds to safety whether
removing direct dangers to health or making highways less monotonous
and dangerous. We also know that those who live in blighted and
squalid conditions are more susceptible to anxieties and mental
disease.
Ugliness is costly. It can be expensive to clean a soot smeared
building, or to build new areas of recreation when the old landscape
could have been preserved far more cheaply.
Certainly no one would hazard a national definition of beauty.
But we do know that nature is nearly always beautiful. We do,
for the most part, know what is ugly. And we can introduce, into
all our planning, our programs, our building and our growth, a
conscious and active concern for the values of beauty. If we do
this then we can be successful in preserving a beautiful America.
There is much the federal government can do, through a range
of specific programs, and as a force for public education. But
a beautiful America will require the effort of government at every
level, of business, and of private groups. Above all it will require
the concern and action of individual citizens, alert to danger,
determined to improve the quality of their surroundings, resisting
blight, demanding and building beauty for themselves and their
children.
I am hopeful that we can summon such a national effort. For
we have not chosen to have an ugly America. We have been careless,
and often neglectful. But now that the danger is clear and the
hour is late this people can place themselves in the path of a
tide of blight which is often irreversible and always destructive.
The Congress and the Executive branch have each produced conservation
giants in the past. During the 88th Congress it was legislative
executive teamwork that brought progress. It is this same kind
of partnership that will ensure our continued progress.
In that spirit as a beginning and stimulus I make the following
proposals:
THE CITIES
Thomas Jefferson wrote that communities "should be planned
with an eye to the effect made upon the human spirit by being
continually surrounded with a maximum of beauty."
We have often sadly neglected this advice in the modern American
city. Yet this is where most of our people live. It is where the
character of our young is formed. It is where American civilization
will be increasingly concentrated in years to come.
Such a challenge will not be met with a few more parks or playgrounds.
It requires attention to the architecture of building, the structure
of our roads, preservation of historical buildings and monuments,
careful planning of new suburbs. A concern for the enhancement
of beauty must infuse every aspect of the growth and development
of metropolitan areas. It must be a principal responsibility of
local government, supported by active and concerned citizens.
Federal assistance can be a valuable stimulus and help to such
local efforts.
I have recommended a community extension program which will
bring the resources of the university to focus on problems of
the community just as they have long been concerned with our rural
areas. Among other things, this program will help provide training
and technical assistance to aid in making our communities more
attractive and vital. In addition, under the Housing Act of 1964,
grants will be made to States for training of local governmental
employees needed for community development. I am recommending
a 1965 supplemental appropriation to implement this program.
We now have two programs which can be of special help in creating
areas of recreation and beauty for our metropolitan area population:
the Open Space Land Program, and the Land and Water Conservation
Fund.
I have already proposed full funding of the Land and Water
Conservation Fund, and directed the Secretary of the Interior
to give priority attention to serving the needs of our growing
urban population.
The primary purpose of the Open Space Program has been to help
acquire and assure open spaces in urban areas. I propose a series
of new matching grants for improving the natural beauty of urban
open space.
The Open Space Program should be adequately financed, and broadened
by permitting grants to be made to help city governments acquire
and clear areas to create small parks, squares, pedestrian malls
and playgrounds.
In addition I will request authority in this program for a
matching program to cities for landscaping, installation of outdoor
lights and benches, creating attractive cityscapes along roads
and in business areas, and for other beautification purposes.
Our city parks have not, in many cases, realized their full
potential as sources of pleasure and play. I recommend on a matching
basis a series of federal demonstration projects in city parks
to use the best thought and action to show how the appearance
of these parks can better serve the people of our towns and metropolitan
areas.
All of these programs should be operated on the same matching
formula to avoid unnecessary competition among programs and increase
the possibility of cooperative effort. I will propose such a standard
formula.
In a future message on the cities I will recommend other changes
in our housing programs designed to strengthen the sense of community
of which natural beauty is an important component.
In almost every part of the country citizens are rallying to
save landmarks of beauty and history. The government must also
do its share to assist these local efforts which have an important
national purpose. We will encourage and support the National Trust
for Historic Preservation in the United States, chartered by Congress
in 1949. I shall propose legislation to authorize supplementary
grants to help local authorities acquire, develop and manage private
properties for such purposes.
The Registry of National Historic Landmarks is a fine federal
program with virtually no federal cost. I commend its work and
the new wave of interest it has evoked in historical preservation.
THE COUNTRYSIDE
Our present system of parks, seashores and recreation areas--monuments
to the dedication and labor of far-sighted men--do not meet the
needs of a growing population.
The full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund will
be an important step in making this a Parks-for-America decade.
I propose to use this fund to acquire lands needed to establish:
--Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland-Virginia
Tocks Island National Recreation
Area, New Jersey-Pennsylvania
Cape Lookout National Seashore,
North Carolina
Sleeping Bear Dunes National
Lakeshore, Michigan
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore,
Indiana
Oregon Dunes National Seashore,
Oregon
Great Basin National Park, Nevada
Guadalupe Mountains National Park,
Texas
Spruce Knob, Seneca Rocks National
Recreation Area, West Virginia
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation
Area, Montana-Wyoming
Flaming Gorge National Recreation,
Utah-Wyoming
Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation
Area, California.
In addition, I have requested the Secretary of Interior, working
with interested groups, to conduct a study on the desirability
of establishing a Redwood National Park in California.
I will also recommend that we add prime outdoor recreation
areas to our National Forest system, particularly in the populous
East; and proceed on schedule with studies required to define
and enlarge the Wilderness System established by the 88th Congress.
We will also continue progress on our refuge system for migratory
waterfowl.
Faulty strip and surface mining practices have left ugly scars
which mar the beauty of the landscape in many of our States. I
urge your strong support of the nationwide strip and surface mining
study provided by the Appalachian Regional legislation, which
will furnish the factual basis for a fair and reasonable approach
to the correction of these past errors.
I am asking the Secretary of Agriculture to work with State
and local organizations in developing a cooperative program for
improving the beauty of the privately owned rural lands which
comprise three-fourths of the Nation's area. Much can be done
within existing Department of Agriculture programs without adding
to cost.
The 28 million acres of land presently held and used by our
Armed Services is an important part of our public estate. Many
thousands of these acres will soon become surplus to military
needs. Much of this land has great potential for outdoor recreation,
wildlife, and conservation uses consistent with military requirements.
This potential must be realized through the fullest application
of multiple-use principles. To this end I have directed the Secretaries
of Defense and Interior to conduct a "conservation inventory"
of all surplus lands.
HIGHWAYS
More than any country ours is an automobile society. For most
Americans the automobile is a principal instrument of transportation,
work, daily activity, recreation and pleasure. By making our roads
highways to the enjoyment of nature and beauty we can greatly
enrich the life of nearly all our people in city and countryside
alike.
Our task is two-fold. First, to ensure that roads themselves
are not destructive of nature and natural beauty. Second, to make
our roads ways to recreation and pleasure.
I have asked the Secretary of Commerce to take a series of
steps designed to meet this objective. This includes requiring
landscaping on all federal interstate primary and urban highways,
encouraging the construction of rest and recreation areas along
highways, and the preservation of natural beauty adjacent to highway
rights-of-way.
Our present highway law permits the use of up to 3% of all
federal-aid funds to be used without matching for the preservation
of natural beauty. This authority has not been used for the purpose
intended by Congress. I will take steps, including recommended
legislation if necessary, to make sure these funds are, in fact,
used to enhance beauty along our highway system. This will dedicate
substantial resources to this purpose.
I will also recommend that a portion of the funds now used
for secondary roads be set aside in order to provide access to
areas of rest and recreation and scenic beauty along our nation's
roads, and for rerouting or construction of highways for scenic
or parkway purposes.
The Recreation Advisory Council is now completing a study of
the role which scenic roads and parkways should play in meeting
our highway and recreation needs. After receiving the report,
I will make appropriate recommendations.
The authority for the existing program of outdoor advertising
control expires on June 30, 1965, and its provisions have not
been effective in achieving the desired goal. Accordingly, I will
recommend legislation to ensure effective control of billboards
along our highways.
In addition, we need urgently to work towards the elimination
or screening of unsightly, beauty-destroying junkyards and auto
graveyards along our highways. To this end, I will also recommend
necessary legislation to achieve effective control, including
Federal assistance in appropriate cases where necessary.
I hope that, at all levels of government, our planners and
builders will remember that highway beautification is more than
a matter of planting trees or setting aside scenic areas. The
roads themselves must reflect, in location and design, increased
respect for the natural and social integrity and unity of the
landscape and communities through which they pass.
RIVERS
Those who first settled this continent found much to marvel
at. Nothing was a greater source of wonder and amazement than
the power and majesty of American rivers. They occupy a central
place in myth and legend, folklore and literature.
They were our first highways, and some remain among the most
important. We have had to control their ravages, harness their
power, and use their water to help make whole regions prosper.
Yet even this seemingly indestructible natural resource is
in danger.
Through our pollution control programs we can do much to restore
our rivers. We will continue to conserve the water and power for
tomorrow's needs with well-planned reservoirs and power dams.
But the time has also come to identify and preserve free flowing
stretches of our great scenic rivers before growth and development
make the beauty of the unspoiled waterway a memory.
To this end I will shortly send to the Congress a Bill to establish
a National Wild Rivers System.
THE POTOMAC
The river rich in history and memory which flows by our nation's
capital should serve as a model of scenic and recreation values
for the entire country. To meet this objective I am asking the
Secretary of the Interior to review the Potomac River basin development
plan now under review by the Chief of Army Engineers, and to work
with the affected States and local governments, the District of
Columbia and interested federal agencies to prepare a program
for my consideration.
A program must be devised which will:
a. Clean up the river and keep it
clean, so it can be used for boating, swimming and fishing.
b. Protect its natural beauties
by the acquisition of scenic easements, zoning or other measures.
c. Provide adequate recreational
facilities, and
d. Complete the presently authorized
George Washington Memorial Parkway on both banks.
I hope action here will stimulate and inspire similar efforts
by States and local governments on other urban rivers and waterfronts,
such as the Hudson in New York. They are potentially the greatest
single source of pleasure for those who live in most of our metropolitan
areas.
TRAILS
The forgotten outdoorsmen of today are those who like to walk,
hike, ride horseback or bicycle. For them we must have trails
as well as highways. Nor should motor vehicles be permitted to
tyrannize the more leisurely human traffic.
Old and young alike can participate. Our doctors recommend
and encourage such activity for fitness and fun.
I am requesting, therefore, that the Secretary of the Interior
work with his colleagues in the federal government and with state
and local leaders and recommend to me a cooperative program to
encourage a national system of trails, building up the more than
hundred thousand miles of trails in our National Forests and Parks.
There are many new and exciting trail projects underway across
the land. In Arizona, a county has arranged for miles of irrigation
canal banks to be used by riders and hikers. In Illinois, an abandoned
railroad right of way is being developed as a "Prairie Path."
In New Mexico utility rights of way are used as public trails.
As with so much of our quest for beauty and quality, each community
has opportunities for action. We can and should have an abundance
of trails for walking, cycling and horseback riding, in and close
to our cities. In the back country we need to copy the great Appalachian
Trail in all parts of America, and to make full use of rights
of way and other public paths.
POLLUTION
One aspect of the advance of civilization is the evolution
of responsibility for disposal of waste. Over many generations
society gradually developed techniques for this purpose. State
and local governments, landlords and private citizens have been
held responsible for ensuring that sewage and garbage did not
menace health or contaminate the environment.
In the last few decades entire new categories of waste have
come to plague and menace the American scene. These are the technological
wastes--the by-products of growth, industry, agriculture, and
science. We cannot wait for slow evolution over generations to
deal with them.
Pollution is growing at a rapid rate. Some pollutants are known
to be harmful to health, while the effect of others is uncertain
and unknown. In some cases we can control pollution with a larger
effort. For other forms of pollution we still do not have effective
means of control.
Pollution destroys beauty and menaces health. It cuts down
on efficiency, reduces property values and raises taxes.
The longer we wait to act, the greater the dangers and the
larger the problem.
Large-scale pollution of air and waterways is no respecter
of political boundaries, and its effects extend far beyond those
who cause it.
Air pollution is no longer confined to isolated places. This
generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a
global scale through radioactive materials and a steady increase
in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. Entire regional
airsheds, crop plant environments, and river basins are heavy
with noxious materials. Motor vehicles and home heating plants,
municipal dumps and factories continually hurl pollutants into
the air we breathe. Each day almost 50,000 tons of unpleasant,
and sometimes poisonous, sulfur dioxide are added to the atmosphere,
and our automobiles produce almost 300,000 tons of other pollutants.
In Donora, Pennsylvania in 1948, and New York City in 1953
serious illness and some deaths were produced by sharp increases
in air pollution. In New Orleans, epidemic outbreaks of asthmatic
attacks are associated with air pollutants. Three-fourths of the
eight million people in the Los Angeles area are annoyed by severe
eye irritation much of the year. And our health authorities are
increasingly concerned with the damaging effects of the continual
breathing of polluted air by all our people in every city in the
country.
In addition to its health effects, air pollution creates filth
and gloom and depreciates property values of entire neighborhoods.
The White House itself is being dirtied with soot from polluted
air.
Every major river system is now polluted. Waterways that were
once sources of pleasure and beauty and recreation are forbidden
to human contact and objectionable to sight and smell. Furthermore,
this pollution is costly, requiring expensive treatment for drinking
water and inhibiting the operation and growth of industry.
In spite of the efforts and many accomplishments of the past,
water pollution is spreading. And new kinds of problems are being
added to the old:
--Waterborne viruses, particularly hepatitis, are replacing
typhoid fever as a significant health hazard.
--Mass deaths of fish have occurred in rivers over-burdened
with wastes.
--Some of our rivers contain chemicals which, in concentrated
form, produce abnormalities in animals.
--Last summer 2,600 square miles of Lake Erie--over a quarter
of the entire Lake-were almost without oxygen and unable to support
life because of algae and plant growths, fed by pollution from
cities and farms.
In many older cities storm drains and sanitary sewers are interconnected.
As a result, mixtures of storm water and sanitary waste overflow
during rains and discharge directly into streams, bypassing treatment
works and causing heavy pollution.
In addition to our air and water we must, each and every day,
dispose of a half billion pounds of solid waste. These wastes--from
discarded cans to discarded automobiles-litter our country, harbor
vermin, and menace our health. Inefficient and improper methods
of disposal increase pollution of our air and streams.
Almost all these wastes and pollutions are the result of activities
carried on for the benefit of man. A prime national goal must
be an environment that is pleasing to the senses and healthy to
live in.
Our Government is already doing much in this field. We have
made significant progress. But more must be done.
Federal Government Activity
I am directing the heads of all agencies to improve measures
to abate pollution caused by direct agency operation, contracts
and cooperative agreements. Federal procurement practices must
make sure that the Government equipment uses the most effective
techniques for controlling pollution. The Administrator of General
Services has already taken steps to assure that motor vehicles
purchased by the Federal Government meet minimum standards of
exhaust quality.
Clean Water
Enforcement authority must be strengthened to provide positive
controls over the discharge of pollutants into our interstate
or navigable waters. I recommend enactment of legislation to:
--Provide, through the setting of effective water quality standards,
combined with a swift and effective enforcement procedure, a national
program to prevent water pollution at its source rather than attempting
to cure pollution after it occurs.
--Increase project grant ceilings and provide additional incentives
for multi-municipal projects under the waste treatment facilities
construction program.
--Increase the ceilings for grants to State water pollution
control programs.
--Provide a new research, and demonstration construction program
leading to the solution of problems caused by the mixing of storm
water runoff and sanitary wastes.
The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare will undertake
an intensive program to clean up the Nation's most polluted rivers.
With the cooperation of States and cities--using the tools of
regulation, grant and incentives--we can bring the most serious
problem of river pollution under control. We cannot afford to
do less.
We will work with Canada to develop a pollution control program
for the Great Lakes and other border waters.
Through an expanded program carried on by the Departments of
Health, Education, and Welfare and Interior, we will continue
to seek effective and economical methods for controlling pollution
from acid mine drainage.
To improve the quality of our waters will require the fullest
cooperation of our State and local governments. Working together,
we can and will preserve and increase one of our most valuable
national resources--clean water.
Clean Air
The enactment of the Clean Air Act in December of 1963 represented
a long step forward in our ability to understand and control the
difficult problem of air pollution. The 1966 Budget request of
24 million dollars is almost double the amount spent on air pollution
programs in the year prior to its enactment.
In addition, the Clean Air Act should be improved to permit
the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to investigate
potential air pollution problems before pollution happens, rather
than having to wait until the damage occurs, as is now the case,
and to make recommendations leading to the prevention of such
pollution.
One of the principal unchecked sources of air pollution is
the automobile. I intend to institute discussions with industry
officials and other interested groups leading to an effective
elimination or substantial reduction of pollution from liquid
fueled motor vehicles.
Solid Wastes
Continuing technological progress and improvement in methods
of manufacture, packaging and marketing of consumer products has
resulted in an ever mounting increase of discarded material. We
need to seek better solutions to the disposal of these wastes.
I recommend legislation to:
--Assist the States in developing comprehensive programs for
some forms of solid waste disposal.
--Provide for research and demonstration projects leading to
more effective methods for disposing of or salvaging solid wastes.
--Launch a concentrated attack on the accumulation of junk
cars by increasing research in the Department of the Interior
leading to use of metal from scrap cars where promising leads
already exist.
Pesticides
Pesticides may affect living organisms wherever they occur.
In order that we may better understand the effects of these
compounds, I have included increased funds in the budget for use
by the Secretaries of Agriculture, Interior, and Health, Education,
and Welfare to increase their research efforts on pesticides so
they can give special attention to the flow of pesticides through
the environment; study the means by which pesticides break down
and disappear in nature; and to keep a constant check on the level
of pesticides in our water, air, soil and food supply.
I am recommending additional funds for the Secretary of Agriculture
to reduce contamination from toxic chemicals through intensified
research, regulatory control, and educational programs.
The Secretary of Agriculture will soon submit legislation to
tighten control over the manufacture and use of agricultural chemicals,
including licensing and factory inspection of manufacturers, clearly
placing the burden of proof of safety on the proponent of the
chemical rather than on the Government.
Research Resources
Our needs for new knowledge and increasing application of existing
knowledge demand a greater supply of trained manpower and research
resources.
A National Center for Environmental Health Sciences is being
planned as a focal point for health research in this field. In
addition, the 1966 budget includes funds for the establishment
of university institutes to conduct research and training in environmental
pollution problems.
Legislation recommended in my message on health has been introduced
to increase Federal support for specialized research facilities
of a national or regional character. This proposal, aimed at health
research needs generally, would assist in the solution of environmental
health problems and I urge its passage.
We need legislation to provide to the Departments of Agriculture
and the Interior authority for grants for research in environmental
pollution control in their areas of responsibility. I have asked
the Secretary of Interior to submit legislation to eliminate the
ceiling on pesticide research.
Other Efforts
In addition to these needed actions, other proposals are undergoing
active study.
I have directed the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers,
with the appropriate departments, to study the use of economic
incentives as a technique to stimulate pollution prevention and
abatement, and to recommend actions or legislation, if needed.
I have instructed the Director of the Bureau of the Budget
and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology to explore
the adequacy of the present organization of pollution control
and research activities.
I have also asked the Director of the Office of Science and
Technology and the Director of the Bureau of the Budget to recommend
the best way in which the Federal government may direct efforts
toward advancing our scientific understanding of natural plant
and animal communities and their interaction with man and his
activities.
The actions and proposals recommended in this message will
take us a long way toward immediate reversal of the increase of
pollutants in our environment. They will also give us time until
new basic knowledge and trained manpower provide opportunities
for more dramatic gains in the future.
WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE
I intend to call a White House Conference on Natural Beauty
to meet in mid-May of this year. Its chairman will be Mr. Laurance
Rockefeller.
It is my hope that this Conference will produce new ideas and
approaches for enhancing the beauty of America. Its scope will
not be restricted to federal action. It will look for ways to
help and encourage state and local governments, institutions and
private citizens, in their own efforts. It can serve as a focal
point for the large campaign of public education which is needed
to alert Americans to the danger to their natural heritage and
to the need for action.
In addition to other subjects which this Conference will consider,
I recommend the following subjects for discussion in depth:
--Automobile junkyards. I am convinced that analysis of the
technology and economics can help produce a creative solution
to this vexing problem. The Bureau of Mines of the Interior Department
can contribute technical advice to the conference, as can the
scrap industry and the steel industry.
--Underground installation of utility transmission lines. Further
research is badly needed to enable us to cope with this problem.
--The greatest single force that shapes the American landscape
is private economic development. Our taxation policies should
not penalize or discourage conservation and the preservation of
beauty.
--Ways in which the Federal Government can, through information
and technical assistance, help communities and states in their
own programs of natural beauty.
--The possibilities of a national tree planting program carried
on by government at every level, and private groups and citizens.
CONCLUSION
In my thirty-three years of public life I have seen the American
system move to conserve the natural and human resources of our
land.
TVA transformed an entire region that was "depressed."
The rural electrification cooperatives brought electricity to
lighten the burdens of rural America. We have seen the forests
replanted by the CCC's, and watched Gifford Pinchot's sustained
yield concept take hold on forestlands.
It is true that we have often been careless with our natural
bounty. At times we have paid a heavy price for this neglect.
But once our people were aroused to the danger, we have acted
to preserve our resources for the enrichment of our country and
the enjoyment of future generations.
The beauty of our land is a natural resource. Its preservation
is linked to the inner prosperity of the human spirit.
The tradition of our past is equal to today's threat to that
beauty. Our land will be attractive tomorrow only if we organize
for action and rebuild and reclaim the beauty we inherited. Our
stewardship will be judged by the foresight with which we carry
out these programs. We must rescue our cities and countryside
from blight with the same purpose and vigor with which, in other
areas, we moved to save the forests and the soil.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
The White House
February 8, 1965
NOTE: Plans for a White House Conference on Natural Beauty
to be held May 24-25 in Washington were announced by the President
on March 12 following a meeting with Laurance S. Rockefeller,
Conference Chairman. In a White House release of that date the
President stated that the 2-day conference would concentrate on
"concrete, immediate means for the preservation of natural
beauty, through Federal, State, local, and private action."
"It is my hope and expectation," the President said, "that this
Conference will help stimulate and guide a truly national effort--at every
level of American life--to ensure that all our people can find their lives
enriched by the beauty of the world they live in."
The release noted that Mrs. Johnson would open the Conference
and that the President would make the closing address. More than
800 conferees from private and public life would discuss "a
wide range of topics concerning the effort to protect and extend
the natural beauty of America." These topics, listed in the
release, would be considered by panels composed of citizens, technical
experts, representatives of industry and labor, and Government
officials. Their recommendations would be presented to the President
at the final session of the Conference.
Later, on May 7, the President announced the names of the chairmen
of the 15 panels that would make up the Conference, and on May
18, the names of the 116 persons who had been invited to participate
as panelists.
Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States:
Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965. Volume I, entry 54, pp. 155-165. Washington, D.
C.: Government Printing Office, 1966.
Last Updated
June 6, 2007
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