Our soil has been, and I think will continue to be, the wellspring
of our prosperity—the very foundation of our economy. We are in
a very large measure dependent upon our natural resources, and
especially on our soil and water, for the high standard of living we
have been able to maintain in this country. The great nations and
the great civilizations of our history all have grown up and flourished
on land that was productive.

Here in Maryland, we are fortunate to have natural resources in
great abundance—soil suitable for agriculture, water, forest and
wildlife resources. It is most important to us and to our progeny
that we conserve and perpetuate these blessings of God and gifts
of nature.

As our population increases, we shall become more and more
dependent upon the fertility of our lands to feed our people. Our
strength as a nation in the future will be based on the health of our
economy, and the health of our economy will be determined to a
great extent by the way we develop and make use of our vital natural
resources.

With all the wealth we have here in Maryland, it is unthinkable
that we should continue shore erosion, with the consequent depletion
of our soil, loss of beaches with the recreational potentials and
damage to the commerce and fisheries of our inland waters. In short,
it is time that we here in this State, as well as the people of other
areas of the country, come to grips with the problem of shore
erosion.

I believe we will all agree that this undertaking is much too big
to be tackled by any one agency or any one small group of individuals.
If it is to be handled properly, it seems to me, it must be a coopera-
tive endeavor of the federal government, the State and community
organizations such as we have represented at this meeting here today.

I am aware that the problems of shore erosion are likely to increase
with the passing of the years, and thus we may expect them to become
harder to solve as time goes on. But I have every confidence in the
determination of the people not to allow such problems to go un-
solved and in the capacity of such leaders as we have here today to
initiate programs which will halt this depletion of our vital natural
resources.

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