484 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



opment where unforested and limit development on forested slopes 

 to not more than one house per three acres. 



Forests and woodlands are the major regulators of equilibrium in 

 the water system and diminish oscillation between flood and drought. 

 They are important to water quality. They exercise a profound 

 effect upon climate and microclimate and represent a prime scenic 

 and recreational resource. In principle, forests and woodlands are 

 recommended for forestry, water catchment areas, airsheds, rec- 

 reation and, under certain conditions, for housing but in clusters 

 at a density not exceeding one home per acre. 



These restraints, if imposed upon the 3,500 square miles of the 

 Philadelphia Metropolitan area, would not, according to Dr. Wil- 

 liam Grigsby, incur any total economic costs. They would canalize 

 development and structure growth but they would not consequen- 

 tially affect time-distance from city to suburb or the aggregate of 

 value added by development. They would protect natural beauty 

 and natural processes, provide structure for growth, ensure a func- 

 tional interfusion of open space and development. 



I therefore recommend to this Conference the formulation of a 

 National Land Use Policy based upon ecology, with explicit regula- 

 tions. From this may emerge the image of the place of nature in the 

 metropolis of man, the place of man in nature. 



Prof. LEWIS. The time has never been better for action programs 

 to conserve and develop wisely the meaningful objects within our 

 American landscape and townscapes. 



I feel, however, that all of the many action programs that have 

 been mentioned these past two days should be based upon a much 

 better understanding of : ( 1 ) what these meaningful objects within 

 our landscape are, and ( 2 ) where within our landscape these many 

 natural and cultural values are located. Both suggest a State-by- 

 State landscape value inventory. 



In Wisconsin, we looked at the urban landscape, we saw a man 

 surrounded by asphalt walls and steelscapes, and the chewing gum 

 that was mentioned earlier. 



We then took a look at the countryside to see what was truly 

 meaningful in the Wisconsin scene. 



In our report, we suggested that there were four surface elements 

 water, wet land, flood plains, and sand soils that tie the landscape 

 together. 



We also suggested that these surface patterns were enclosed by 



