292 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



These can all be integrated into a beautification program which 

 can make the community much more beneficial. 



Dr. SCHEFFEY. I am going to approach the topic of this panel 

 somewhat indirectly by looking at the land-grant State university 

 system that exists in this country as an institutional force potentially 

 qualified (and I would underscore this term "potentially") to deal 

 with many future problems of landscape quality on a continuing 

 basis. 



This unique combination of research, teaching, and extension 

 education, as we all know, has had a central thrust upon the entire 

 agricultural enterprise in this country and has had a profound influ- 

 ence upon many aspects of resource development. Much of this 

 past effort, however, has been directed toward counteracting the ill 

 effects of unsound land use practices and resource development 

 policy. 



Current knowledge enables us now to foresee future changes with 

 greater clarity, to anticipate what future needs are going to be, and 

 to avoid many costly mistakes in the use of land. Mr. Rockefeller 

 pointed out this morning that, over the next 40 years, we are going 

 to practically rebuild large portions of this country. Here is an 

 opportunity to avoid mistakes. 



By focusing on landscape quality and design, a charge which 

 would be wholly consistent with the historical mandate of the State 

 university systems, these institutions could become powerful agents 

 for generating workable concepts and practices of what I would refer 

 to as environmental stewardship, and I would think this is really 

 what this portion of the conference is about. 



The challenges of the new conservation now demand such a 

 broadening of traditional areas of concern in each of the States. 

 This university system constitutes a potentially vital focal point for 

 gathering new knowledge about landscape problems, for producing 

 a professional corps capable of utilizing this knowledge, and for creat- 

 ing the organizational innovations necessary for applying it to the 

 land. I think this is what we have been hearing about during the 

 last two presentations. This system could become a viable frame- 

 work for implementing many of the proposals stemming from this 

 conference, transmitting them into action programs at State and 

 local levels. 



These institutions could provide the institutional support neces- 

 sary for formulating forward-looking landscape policies embracing 



