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<br />003J57 <br /> <br />In his February 10, 1970, Message on <br />the Environment, President Nixon said, <br />" . we came only lately to a recognition <br />of how precious and how vulnerable our <br />resources of land, water and air really are. <br />"The tasks that need doing reouire <br />money, resolve and ingenuity-and they <br />are too big to be done by government <br />alone. They call for fundamentally new <br />philosophies of land, air and water use, <br />for stricter regulation, for expanded gov- <br />ernment action, for greater citizen ~nvolve- <br />ment, and for new programs to ensure <br />that government, industry and individuals <br />all are called on to do their share of the <br />job. . ." <br />Today a number of rivers have been <br />preserved in the National Wild and Scenic <br />Rivers System. <br />Others remain, flowing through re- <br />mote wilderness areas or rural landscapes, <br />and even close to crowded urban centers. <br />But they are endangered resources as <br />our needs for power and living and indus- <br />trial space expand, and their numbers con- <br />tinue to diminish as the recreational need <br />for them grows. <br />We have enjoyed wild rivers as have <br />our forebears for generations. Our de- <br />scendants deserve the same opportunity. <br />If they are to know that heritage, our <br />remaining wild and free-flowing rivers, <br />or portions of them, should be preserved <br />in every section of our land. <br />Only through conservation now can <br />these natural treasures . , . "clean rivers <br />to fish in and sit by" . . , be protected from <br />uses that will destroy their beauty and <br />important recreational values. <br />