CONCLUSION 



229 



In this regard it is interesting to note that the Science 

 Advisory Board, composed of some of the nation's out- 

 standing physical scientists, in a report to the President on 

 December 14, 1934,* recommended a six-year program of 

 scientific research supported by Federal funds, centered 

 around natural resources. Whether this particular plan is 

 adopted in all its details or not, some such comprehensive 

 effort should be made by the government in the near future 

 to complete the scientific inventory of the nation's resources. 

 Until such inventory is made, any conservation program will 

 necessarily involve some elements of guesswork. 



Defects in Administrative Organization: However much 

 the lack of an integrated conservation program may be 

 attributed to the absence of scientific data, the defects in 

 the administrative organizations in both Federal and State 

 governments as a contributory factor should not be over- 

 looked. The policy of organizing each resource, i. e., soil, 

 timber, or wild life, under the direction of an independent 

 agency makes the formation of an integrated program very 

 difficult. 



This structural defect has been recognized by students 

 of administration and efforts are being made to bring the 

 various conservation agencies in the Federal government 

 into closer relation with each other in a division under an 

 assistant secretary in one of the existing executive depart- 

 ments. In a few of the states the reorganization movement 

 has been responsible for the establishment of conservation 

 departments which include among their subdivisions all of 

 the state agencies dealing with the various forms of con- 

 servation. 



This administrative reformation in the state might be 

 carried out more completely were it not for the unfortunate 



1 New York Times, December 15, 1934. 



