THE CONFERENCE CALL 7 



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 con- 

 trol expires on June 30, 1965, and its provisions have not been effec- 

 tive in achieving the desired goal. Accordingly, I will recommend 

 legislation to insure effective control of billboards along our highways. 



In addition, we need urgently to work toward the elimination or 

 screening of unsightly, beauty-destroying junkyards and auto grave- 

 yards along our highways. To this end, I will also recommend neces- 

 sary legislation to achieve effective control, including Federal assist- 

 ance 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 Congress a bill to establish a 

 national wild rivers system. 



