FINAL ACT OF SECOND PAN AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS. 63 



In May, 1908, upon the invitation of President Roosevelt, the Gover- 

 nors of the States and Territories of the United States met in Washing- 

 ton in conference on natural resources. Pursuant to the suggestion of 

 the governors, President Roosevelt created, on June 8, 1908, the National 

 Conservation Commission, and under the direction of this commission 

 the first inventory of the natural resources of the United- States was 

 prepared. A joint conservation conference was held in Washington 

 December 8-n, 1908, composed of Governors of States and Territories, 

 conservation commissions, and interested persons, and as an outgrowth 

 of this conference a letter of invitation to Canada and Mexico to join 

 with the United States in a North American conservation conference 

 was, on December 24, 1908, written by President Roosevelt. In view 

 of the importance of the subject, the material portion of President 

 Roosevelt's letter to Earl Grey, then Governor General of Canada, is 



quoted : 



In May of the present year the Governors of the several States and Terri- 

 tories of this Union met in the White House to confer with the President 

 and with each other concerning the amount and condition of the natural 

 resources of this country, and to consider the most effective means for 

 conserving them. This conference included also the members of the 

 Supreme Court, the Cabinet, and Members of both Houses of Congress, 

 together with representatives of the great associations of citizens con- 

 cerned with natural resources. The conference was followed by the ap- 

 pointment of conservation commissions on the part of the Nation and of 

 a majority of the States. 



A second conference of the national commission with the Governors, 

 the State commissions, and the conservation committees of the great 

 associations has recently been held in this city. It was called to consider 

 an inventory of our natural resources prepared by the National Conser- 

 vation Commission. Its most important result will doubtless appear in 

 cooperation on the part of the Nation, the States, and the great associations 

 of citizens for action upon this great question, upon which the progress 

 of the people of the United States obviously depends. 



It is evident that natural resources are not limited by the boundary 

 lines which separate nations, and that the need for conserving them upon 

 this continent is as wide as the area upon which they exist. In view, 

 therefore, of these considerations, and of the close bonds of friendship and 

 mutual aims which exist between Canada and the United States, I take 

 especial pleasure in inviting you to designate representatives of the Gov- 

 ment of Canada to meet and consult with representatives of the State and 

 other departments of this Government, and the National Conservation 

 Commission, in the city of Washington on February 18, 1909. The pur- 

 pose of the conference I have the honor to propose is to consider mutual 

 interests involved in the conservation of natural resources, and in this 

 great field deliberate upon the practicability of preparing a general plan 

 adapted to promote the welfare of the Nations concerned. 



