532 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



developing the exciting designs that will make the public delight in 

 and pay for natural beauty. 



Think of a city with 300 acres of woodland within 20 minutes of 

 downtown, once a private estate and now available for a park. The 

 city or park commission is persuaded to purchase it and secures a 

 'Federal grant for design and development. The public waits. 

 Dreary picnic tables? Walks for ladies with parasols? Hot dusty 

 playfields on a bulldozed plain? 



We must have a new philosophy of developed open space that 

 catches the imagination of the public. Only this will provide the 

 impetus to reverse the march of the economic forces on the urban 

 fringe, only this will give true form and meaning to metropolitan 

 areas, only this will preserve the American dream that lies behind 

 every panel statement in this conference. 



SHELDON GOLEM AN. All people, and especially young people, 

 need to develop a feeling of reverence and respect for the living earth 

 and a sense of stewardship for the natural resources of their country. 

 To accomplish this objective every boy and girl in America should be 

 given an opportunity to have a meaningful experience with the out- 

 doors so that they can understand from personal contact the value of 

 clean water, green forests, abundant wild life, and productive soils. 

 This can only be done in a universal manner through the schools, 

 where outdoor education is taught as a regular part of the curriculum. 

 This is the only way we can reach every boy and girl in America with 

 the true story of conservation. 



This panel should request the President to have a study made that 

 would point the way for specific action programs that would imple- 

 ment the objective of giving every boy and girl in this country a mean- 

 ingful experience with the outdoors which would be a step forward in 

 helping our problems of juvenile delinquency, physical fitness, and 

 mental health. Such a task force could have a profound effect. 



Comment. The most practical means by which the urban child 

 can reach nature is the school bus. 



LYLE E. CRAINE. In the panel on education, emphasis was put 

 upon nature education in the public schools. The premise seems 

 to be that in ten years we will develop an electorate appreciative of 

 natural beauty. Granted that a universal appreciation of nature 

 is a necessary condition to action, it is doubtful that it is sufficient. 

 There are fundamental issues (social and economic), which we must 

 understand and face. A most challenging task to education is to 



