displayed by so-called responsible administrators of the Nation's resources. The 

 superintendent explained to us that the destruction of all aquatic plant life, irre- 

 spective of the long-range ill-effect it would have on the lakes, was necessary so 

 that people who wanted to swim in the lakes would not risk being entangled in 

 the underwater growth! We wondered — what is the need of setting aside a "wild- 

 life refuge" if its main purpose is to be prostituted! 



For decades we have blindly swept our filth beneath the surface of our waters, 

 and just as blindly we have assumed that it would remain well hidden under 

 the "rug." Until rather recently the best of authorities have assumed that sewage 

 and garbage that we have assigned to the depths of our lakes and oceans would be 

 like the proverbial sleeping dog. It is now known, however, that even at the 

 greatest depths some turbulence occurs, and we learn that our "sleeping dogs" 

 have never lain placidly; they are now coming home to haunt us in the form of 

 poison fish and dying wildlife. In view of the fact that ocean currents have been 

 known for such a long time the assumption that no such phenomena would occur 

 in inland coastal waters seems strange. 



The debris left in lowlands and forests that border lakes and rivers after high 

 water is astronomical. In some such areas we have traversed it was literally impos- 

 sible for us to take a step without stepping upon some sort of extraneous object 

 such as the ubiquitous bottles and cans, plastic containers, old tires, shoes and 

 every other type of rubbish. These had not only recently been water pollutants but 

 now they were deposited on land where they had become visual pollutants. 



It may be of interest to others that our experience from the very beginning 

 of this project has been one of frustration. We have felt, and at times been treated, 

 like interlopers because of our interest in and desire to work on the biological, 

 particularly botanical, aspects of aquatic pollution. We have found that most 

 research funds for pollution and water quality research have largely been taken 

 over by inorganic scientists, primarily chemically trained and oriented, most of 

 whom either have no interest in nor feeling for biological research. We would have 

 greatly appreciated the opportunity to work with a team of scientists on a bio- 

 logical approach to our various problems involving aquatic pollution. 



We can only say "amen" to Sculthorpe's statement on page 28 (1967): "Pollu- 

 tion by sewage and other domestic products, poisonous industrial effluents, pesti- 

 cides and radioactive wastes has been steadily increasing and must now be treated 

 as an integral feature of the aquatic environment. So far, it has been treated 

 principally, indeed too often exclusively, as a physiochemical phenomenon. Its 

 biological, and particularly botanical, consequences have been much neglected." 



It has been said by some wise individual that the environment is almost as 

 much a product of the community as the community is of the environment. This 

 might be carried a step further to say that the condition of the environment is a 

 realistic measure of the kind of civilization that exists to inhabit that environ- 

 ment. 



15 



