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Opening Remarks 



Ed Herschler 



Governor of Wyoming and Chairman of the 



Western Governors' Conference 



M. 



.y fellow governors, distinguished conference par- 

 ticipants and guests, let me add my welcome to our 

 annual meeting tiere at Salishan. 



Governor Atiyeh, we tiave already felt thie warm 

 hospitality that you, Dolores (Mrs. Atiyeh), your staff, 

 this marvelous facility, and the private sector contribu- 

 tors have all collaborated to provide 



Governor, we are all trying to do our job by coming 

 to your beautiful state to boost your economy You 

 certainly had uncanny foresight last summer to know 

 that some 350-400 visitors to Oregon at this time 

 would provide a much needed lift — we're glad you 

 did — and we hope we do! 



Less than a year ago, most press accounts of our 

 region painted a prosperous picture of a robust econ- 

 omy. Energy development projects were booming, 

 new capital and new people were streaming into our 

 region in search of the "good lite " And, as gover- 

 nors, when we met in Jackson, Wyoming, in Septem- 

 ber 1981, our concerns were focused on how, as 

 chief executives in the Western states, we were going 

 to manage those promising developments in an 

 orderly way We wanted to contribute our respective 

 natural resources to meet growing national demands, 

 and we have consistently sought to do so in ways 

 compatible with our unique Western values and lifes- 

 tyles As a result, this past year, we dedicated our- 

 selves to adopting policies and pursuing work 

 programs aimed at: 



1 . Strengthening state roles and capacities to par- 

 ticipate as a full partner with the federal govern- 

 ment in natural resource policy management; 

 and. 



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2. Broadening our respective state economic bases 



so as to provide more secure financial futures. 

 As part of our meetings here we will be reviewing 

 the work of the past year, including the status of: 



• The 26 major land, water, and energy-related pol- 

 icies we have advanced to the interior 

 department: 



• The federal gas and oil royalties underpayments 

 to the states and accounting problems we are 

 attempting to correct: 



• The regional low-level radioactive waste disposal 

 compacts we are pursuing within our respective 

 states: 



• The western state correctional and prison man- 

 agement improvements we have recommended in 

 our regional study; and, 



• The International Trade promotion activities we 

 have sponsored in an effort to substantially 

 increase Western state exports in this decade. 



All of these work programs will be closely examined 

 through our committee meetings and at our closing 

 business session when New Work program priorities 

 for our conference will be proposed. All of you gover- 

 nors should have received a bound document entitled 

 Western Governors' Conference Workplan Report 

 upon which our program assessment and develop- 

 ment activities will be based 



For our major plenary sessions today and 

 tomorrow, however, we have decided to look at some 

 of our special Western state economic sectors so crit- 

 ical to our regional well being. As we gather here, we 

 are once again powerfully and painfully reminded how 

 vulnerable virtually all of our Western states are to 



