504 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



forest areas that are under long-term management by various agen- 

 cies of the government at the Federal, State and local levels. 



This contribution is being made not only in terms of the scenic 

 values of the healthy, managed forests, but in terms of watershed 

 management, in terms of providing a habitat for wildlife of a great 

 variety of species and, increasingly, in terms of the role of multiple 

 use forest management in providing high class opportunities for 

 public outdoor recreation. I would remind the conference that 

 almost 1 00 percent of the millions of forest acres owned and managed 

 by private industry are open for public use of one kind or another. 



It would seem to me appropriate that some recognition of the 

 growing and important role of the Nation's managed forest land 

 in providing natural beauty and recreational opportunities be in- 

 cluded in the record of the White House Conference on Natural 

 Beauty. 



WILLIAM VOIGT, Jr. The statement presented in the name of 

 Senator Jackson said all Federal authorizations in the natural re- 

 sources field to date should be studied. The statement made in 

 behalf of Representative Aspinall mentioned the word "compati- 

 bility." Director Crafts of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation re- 

 minded that as of the date of this conference the concept of pre- 

 serving natural beauty is still a White House idea; there is no fixed 

 official policy. Congress and the States have been silent on the 

 subject up to now. 



The key words are "authorizations" and "compatibility." The 

 lack of an official fixed policy is the key situation. 



It is doubted that much can be done with regard to authoriza- 

 tions of past years that have entered or passed the construction stage. 

 Some rectification may be feasible through amendment of the 

 numerous laws providing the authorizations. 



The hope for the future seems to lie in writing preservation of nat- 

 ural beauty provisions in authorization bills prepared by the present 

 administration from this time forward, and by future administrations. 



The first order of business should be to set standards, or to devise 

 a technique for setting standards. Thereafter, the administration 

 should make it a standard practice whenever bills are sent to the 

 Hill that would authorize Federal projects affecting natural re- 

 sources, to specify in the bills that the execution of the projects 

 authorized shall be compatible with the standards set for the pres- 

 ervation of natural beauty, or in accordance with standards ap- 



