110 Conservation of Natural Resources in California. 



DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES. 



Before adjourning, the Governors signed the following Declaration as 

 embodying the results of the Convention : 



DECLARATION. 



We, the Governors of the States and Territories of the United States of 

 America, in conference assembled, do hereby declare the conviction that the 

 great prosperity of our country rests upon the abundant resources of the land 

 chosen by our forefathers for their homes, and where they laid the foundation of 

 this great nation. 



We look upon these resources as a heritage to be made use of in establishing 

 and promoting the comfort, prosperity, and happiness of the American people, 

 but not to be wasted, deteriorated, or needlessly destroyed. 



We agree that our country's future is involved in this: that the great natural 

 resources supply the material basis upon which our civilization must continue 

 to depend, and upon which the perpetuity of the nation itself rests. 



We agree, in the light of the facts brought to our knowledge and from infor- 

 mation received from sources which we can not doubt, that this material basis 

 is threatened with exhaustion. Even as each succeeding generation from the 

 birth of the nation has performed its part in promoting the progress and 

 development of the Republic, so do we in this generation recognize it as a high 

 duty to perform our part; and this duty in large degree lies in the adoption 

 of measures for the conservation of the natural wealth of the country. 



We declare our firm conviction that this conservation of our natural resources 

 is a subject of transcendent importance, which should engage unremittingly 

 the attention of the nation, the States, and the people in earnest co-operation. 

 These natural resources include the land on which we live and which yields 

 our food; the living waters which fertilize the soil, supply power, and form 

 great avenues of commerce; the forests which yield the materials for our homes, 

 prevent erosion of the soil, and conserve the navigation and other uses of the 

 streams; and the minerals which form the basis of our industrial life, and 

 supply us with heat, light, and power. 



We agree that the land should be so used that erosion and soil wash shall 

 cease; and that there should be reclamation of arid and semi-arid regions by 

 means of irrigation, and of swamp and overflowed regions by means of drain- 

 age; that the waters should be so conserved and used as to promote navigation, 

 to enable the arid regions to be reclaimed by irrigation, and to develop power 

 in the interests of the people; that the forests which regulate our rivers, sup- 

 port our industries, and promote the fertility and productiveness of the soil 

 should be preserved and perpetuated; that the minerals found so abundantly 

 beneath the surface should be so used as to prolong their utility; that the 

 beauty, healthfulness, and habitability of our country should be preserved and 

 increased; that sources of national wealth exist for the benefit of the people, 

 and that monopoly thereof should not be tolerated. 



We commend the wise forethought of the President in sounding the note of 

 warning as to the waste and exhaustion of the natural resources of the country, 

 and signify our high appreciation of his action in calling this conference to con- 

 sider the same and to seek remedies therefor through co-operation of the Nation 

 and States. 



We agree that this co-operation should find expression in suitable action by 

 the Congress within the limits of and coextensive with the national jurisdiction, 

 of the subject, and, complimentary thereto, by the Legislatures of the several 

 States within the limits of and coextensive with their jurisdiction. 



