EDWARD S. MASON 185 



case of water policy. Our forest land policy has been continuously 

 concerned with the timing of use. The large sum spent on erosion con- 

 trol through education and practical demonstration has been primarily 

 concerned with conservation. While a large part of other public ex- 

 penditures undertaken in the name of conservation have, in fact, been 

 mainly directed toward the raising of farm income, the preservation 

 of agricultural land for future use has never been lost from sight. And, 

 despite the tremendous increases in productivity per acre brought 

 about by the technological changes of the last few decades, I would 

 maintain that this objective is well chosen. There is little danger, to 

 be sure, that we shall be unable to feed and clothe ourselves, and 

 without significant increases in real costs, for the next twenty-five to 

 fifty years even if we assume a rate of population growth conforming 

 to the maximum census projections. But I would argue that with re- 

 spect to our land resources we must take the long view. In estimating, 

 for purposes of projection, the relationship between present costs and 

 future benefits in this area the appropriate interest rate may well be 

 close to zero. 



Reflection on the distinction between the relevance of conservation 

 considerations to particular materials, on the one hand, and to broad 

 resource categories, on the other, emphasizes the importance of sub- 

 stitution, conditions of replacement, and over-all limitations of supply. 

 Loss of topsoil or source of stream flow is, to say the least, difficult 

 to replace. The serious issues appear to lie in the area of renewable 

 resources and the conservation objective is, by taking appropriate cur- 

 rent action, to assure that these renewable resources are, in fact, 

 renewed. 



I conclude, then, that although there are many so-called conserva- 

 tion problems that are better considered in other analytical categories, 

 and many assertions of need for conservation that dissolve under scru- 

 tiny, there remains a set of conservation issues both real and serious. 

 An analysis of the conditions under which the price system does not 

 assure an effective comparison of present and future costs and bene- 

 fits, and of various types of public action designed to prevent or rectify 

 these failures, is an important part of the political economy of natural 

 resource use. 



