WSP02086 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

special project complements our long-range program of staff research.. which itself follows a comprehensive pattern designed to give a many- angled view of the whole resources picture. The separate effort is being undertaken to make available soon and in a single volume a preliminary appraisal of the nation's resource position. - The year's work includes some especially interesting examples of the complexity of some resource problems and the need for approaching them from a number of viewpoints and intellectual disciplines. For instance, the Arctic Institute's study of southeast Alaska: which is being prepared by an economist keenly aware of the importance of economic and tech- nological iactors, concludes tentatively that many of the most immediate decisions that will shape the future course of resource development in the region involve questions of sociology, political science, and anthropology. (See page 62.) And in a conceptual study of the relationship of natural resources and economic growth~ the doctrines of the American conservation movement, which most certainly was not led by professional economists! are analyzed from the economic viewpoint. (See page 78.) The same study is also an example of the practical possibilities of an essentially theoretical work. Both the resource scarcity doctrines of the classical economists and the largely noneconomic credo of the early con- servationists are deeply imbedded in the thinking of most Americans. \Vhatever their validity under present-day conditions, they are constantly influencing public and private decisions in the field of resources develop- ment. But despite the continuing impact of these ideas, it has been a century since professional economists have made any formal effort to develop a modernjzed theory of resource availability and economic growth. Thost: are the aims of the staff study now under way. - Even over a long period, it is usually impossible to measure, and almost as hard to guess at, the actual effects of research and education in a field so broad as that of natural resources conservation and develop. ment. During the past year, however, there has been increasing evidence that the results of our work are being noted and used. The publications issued thus far have been widely and on the whole favorably reviewed in professional, trade, and general periodicals. \Ve are told that the book on education for planning is being llsed at several universities by com- mittees considering changes in planning curriculums. The analysis of the use and management of the federal lands has been taken as the startin~ point for further studies by a Senate committee and the General Account- ing Office. The analysis of river basin development has been adopted for use in several university seminars and courses. - Richard F. I\Iuth, research associate in the regional studies group, left in September on a leave of absence to become associate professor of 10