Conservation

Sir: I am very pleased to learn that A MERICAN H ERITAGE will expand its editorial charter and contents to include a new department devoted to conservation. Of course, as a subscriber for the past ten years, I am also proud to become a charter member of the American Heritage Society.

Your decision to focus attention on the intelligent use of our natural resources is of personal interest to me as Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army. For about a century and a half, the Corps of Engineers has played a significant role in the exploration, conservation, and development of our natural resources. Our libraries and archives have much raw material on this important historical legacy. Topics include the scientific exploration of the West both before and after the Civil War; the development and use of our rivers and canals; the discovery and protection of scenic treasures like Yellowstone Park; the preservation of the beauty of Niagara Falls; early and current surveying of the Great Lakes; and the pinning down of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers—a task which Mark Twain said was second only to that of creating them. More recent subjects include the patient development of ways to preserve salmon and other wildlife resources, the still-new study of coastal oceanography along our beaches and shores, and the broad area of environmental quality.

I pledge the full resources of the Corps of Engineers in developing your new area of interest.