CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Maryland, although a small state, is abundantly endowed
with natural resources. From the timbered mountains of the
Western counties to the bountiful waters of the Chesapeake
Bay, the State's resources are many and diverse. Their con-
servation is a major responsibility of State government. Corn-
batting soil erosion and water pollution and the protection of
wildlife were areas of particular concern during this period.

Shortly after taking office, Governor Tawes commissioned
a Water Resources Management Study by the State Planning
Department. This study produced specific proposals for more
effective utilization of the State's valuable water supply. To
carry out their many responsibilities, the operating budgets
of agencies under the State Board of Natural Resources were
increased by more than 50 per cent during the Governor's
first term.

ADDRESS, MARYLAND LAND WEEK

STEVENSVILLE
September 14, 1959

It is gratifying and reassuring to see so many of you here and to
observe the great interest that is being displayed by so many of our
citizens in the conservation of the natural resources of our State.

Those of us who have heard the lectures or read the articles of Dr.
Reginald V. Truitt know that in the not too remote eras of our past,
strong nations have vanished and great civilizations have disinte-
grated because the soil which sustained them had been washed into
the seas. Within the memory of people living right here in Maryland
today, entire farms have disappeared into our Chesapeake Bay, the
victim of shore erosion.

In an age when mankind is sending missiles into outer space-
rockets to the surface of the moon—it is perhaps too easy for us to
disregard the less dramatic and less spectacular phenomena which
surround us, but phenomena which, in the long run, may have a
more powerful effect upon our civilization than the ventures we are
making today into outer space.

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