290 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



All agricultural activities, diversified farming, and ranching are 

 in the agricultural district. 



Conservation districts "include areas necessary for protecting 

 watersheds and water sources; preserving scenic areas; providing 

 park lands, wilderness and beach reserves . . . and other related 

 activities." 



It is noteworthy that the Land Use Commission's own regulations 

 drawn up as criteria to determine permissible uses within agricultural 

 districts, specifically provide for retention or rehabilitation of "sites 

 of historic or scenic interest." 



While the clear intent of the law is primarily to preserve agricul- 

 tural lands from urban encroachment for economic reasons, the nat- 

 ural beauty of the farmscape is protected in a very practical man- 

 ner. It is a simple step to further prescribe that preservation of our 

 farmlands is also necessary to protect the natural growth of the 

 farmscape. 



It is time we recognize that natural beauty is public property and 

 ban trespassing by vandals. Let us recognize the public rights to 

 open space and natural beauty on the same legal level as private 

 rights to private property. 



Let us declare America's natural beauty the land, the sea, and 

 the sky the property of all. 



As we recognize the legal consequences of zoning to preserve nat- 

 ural beauty, we are going to be involved in considerable legislation 

 and testing in the courts, but I think we must learn to realize that 

 we must hold the land in safekeeping, whether we hold title or not. 

 And the prospect of zoning by the States, through cooperation with 

 the counties, may well be a way to protect our natural beauty and 

 still protect our freedoms. 



Mr. BELSER. I think we all have a pretty good idea of the objec- 

 tive. Our real concern relates to what we can do in the way of 

 action on this problem. As a representative of local government on 

 this panel, I would like to emphasize the role of local government, 

 the action role which local government can assume. 



I was interested to learn this morning that there are something 

 over 3,000 counties and local governments local rural govern- 

 ments in the United States, and of this number less than 10 percent 

 have any program for conservation or park and recreation develop- 

 ment. This makes the remarks that I am going to make very per- 



