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, ~l ,.... f,ru")~~~ U ~~(.l . . "the united nonpartisan support of Reclamation by all of the Western States. united support which has accomplished so much over the last 50 years was lacking. The Finally, there was the opposition from outside--from those who do not under- stand or do not care about the West's need for water, or who have their own axes to grind in opposition to Reclamation development. I do not question the sincerity of these groups which have opposed further Reclamation development, nor do I deny that there is a conflict of interests in the development of some of these projects. Because of these conflicts and the way in which the term "conservation" has been bandied about in recent years, it may be well to consider just what is true conservation and what part Reclamation plays in it. The word "conservation" got its true meaning and start in relation to the Nation's natural resources shortly after the turn of the century when President Theodore Roosevelt was in office. The late Gifford Pinchot, another great sup- porter of natural resources development, recalled the early beginnings in a talk in Washington, D. C., in 1937. He was primarily concerned with forests, but realized, too, that the future of America was all bound up in the wise, integrated development of all of its natural resources, water, soil, timber, grass, and minerals. He recalled that, even in the early days of the century, erosion, irrigation, water power, naviga- tion, coal, and oil were becoming important. The conservation movement for proper development and use of our natural resources really took hold about 1907, when a flotilla of steamboats under the sponsorship of the Inland Waterways Commission floated down the Mississippi. Aboard was President Roosevelt and, among others, F. H. Newell, who had just been named Director of the then infant Reclamation Service, and Senator Francis G. 8