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ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR FARRIS BRYANT
TO THE SEARS FOUNDATION DINNER
FOR THE PRESENTATION OF THE
GOVERNOR'S AHARDS TO
OUTSTANDING FLORIDA CONSERVATIONISTS
SIEVER SPRINGS, FLORIDA
SEPTEMBER 15, 1962
(For release after 7 PM)
I am happy to once again be able to personally participate
in these ceremonies honoring those who have given of themselves to
insure the enJoyment of Florida's natural beauties now and in the
future.
I come here tenight with special pleasure that this
Governor's Awards Banquet has been combined with the annual meeting
of the Plorida Hildlife Federation. It is appropriate that at this
gathering of those dedicated to conservation we should take special
note of the men and women who have been selected by the conservation
professionals of ilorida as outstanding in their various fields of
interest and endeavor.
By holding this dinner here at Silver Springs, you have
afforded the Bryants an opportunity to slip away from the pressures
of Tallahassee and some hams. And this, too, is appropriate, for it
was here, on this river and in these woods, that I first learned about
conservation -- the sort of conservation a small boy picks up from
his father who, when he introduces him to the wonders of a dipping
bobber or sharp tug on a line, or the delightful ache which follows
the first time a youthful finger has squeezed a trigger and felt the
shotgun butt kick into his shoulder, couples these unforgettable
experiences with a word of caution not to take more fish than can be
eaten or shoot more bird or beast than can be carried home and stored.
Those admonitions, which meant so much to me when I was
young, are seldom needed in these days. For even here in Marion
County, where lakes and fields abound, the onslaught of civilization
has been such that no longer does the choice of which field or lake
to hunt or fish exist, and no longer must the youngster who hunts
and fishes be cautioned to stay within his limit. Today's problem
is to find a field big enough to shoot a gun or a lake where there
exists the likelihood of tying into at least one fair fish during
the course of an afternoon.
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That our opportunities to use and enjoy the outdoors have
slipped away from us are less the fault of our great growth and
industrial expansion than because of the complacency which in years
past has kep dormant conservation concern by citizens and governmental
officials alike. The blanket of conservation complacency which has
engulfed Florida for the past three decades must be swept aside. it
the state level we must -- as we are now -- experience an awakening
of the value of our natural resources to every activity within our
borders. Conservation organizations must -~ as you are now -- shift
emphasis from comparing notes on catches and bags to an active and
aggressive program to push or pull, lead or follow, the efforts of
the state to assure the retention of the beauty which has built
Florida and the recreational opportunities which sustain it.
Few Floridians, even oldtimers, recognize the magnitude
of the problem with which we deal. Our natural resources today
account for a two and a half billion dollar slice of Florida's basic
economy. Our state level expenditures in the conservation area in this
fiscal year will total more than 32 million dollars. Conservation
is big business in Florida and we are sorely in need of more
conservationists in government and more business, civic and political
leaders in the forefront of the conservation movement. We must
recognize that if we are to preserve for the future the open waters,
the clear, clean air and the abundant woodlands which attracted so
many of us here, we must close ranks today in the management of our
resources.
When I left here to go to Tallahassee as governor, I was
fortunate to take with me a man who knows and loves not only this
area, but all of Florida, and who understood by virtue of his training
as a professional engineer and experience with the Central and
Southern Florida Flood Control District, the problems of conservation
and the relationship between its many facets. That man is Bill Kidd,
who is here tonight, and because of whose untiring labors I can
truthfully say that I believe the conservation efforts of this
administration will be ranked as among its most significant contri-
butions to Florida's future. I am proud of Bill and am grateful for
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thil Opportunity to Bay 80 Publicly, for all too often I receive an
undue degree of credit for accomplishments which are the product of
his fertile mind and willing hands.
And there is much for him to do. Our growth from 20th to
ninth among the states in population rank in a span of only 10 years
has imposed upon us problems which make obsolete the attitude and
practices which have prevailed for many years and which demand a fresh
approach to conservation. We have put aside the idea that "conserva-
tion" requires the setting aside of our natural resources for
preservation in the natrual state, unused and untouched by man. Our
concern today is to guard and guide the destinies of those areas which
a bountiful nature has bestowed upon us, and to do so by the applica-
tion of advanced scientific principles of management and administration
in order to provide for their maximum beneficial use in a way designed
to improve and perpetuate them insofar as humanly possible.
So rushed and hectic are our times, that we seldom stop
to inventory and evaluate the natural resources of which we glibly
sneak. Let me call to your attention Just a few with which Florida
1- now concerned:
Our climate is our best known and probably our most
valuable natural asset ~- especially the comfortable year-round
temperatures and the abundant sunshine. Florida's climate is
generally remote from the meddling of man but, despite the saying that
all you can do about the weather is talk about it, there is such
reason for concern as to cause the Legislature to enact measures for
the control of artificial rainpmaking and related activities and to
create public bodies to protect us from the potential of atmospheric
pollution which increases as we become more and more industrialized.
Water, in the form of our 55 inch annual rainfall,
tremendOus groundwater reserves and numerous surface water features,
constitutes one of the mast enviable of Florida's natural resources.
It is hard to believe as we meet by this great spring, which flows
forth at the rate of 500 million gallons daily, that there rages in
Florida today a heated debate over the ability of our water resources
to meet the needs of the future. Although our studies indicate that
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the threat 0f water shortages are neither as great nor as imminent
as some would have us believe, it is good that concern exists. The
concern will serve to spur on the conservation programs of the
Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District, the water holding
basin plans Which are incorporated into the design for the Cross-
State Barge Canal and the pollution and protection controls that are
in effect or under consideration for all major watersheds of the
state. Our problem is, and must remain, how best to share the
abundance of water which is ours, not how to compensate for shortages
resulting from shortsighted or ill-advised actions.
Although the soils of our state are not of exceptional
quality, wise utilisation and management have caused them to support
a 900 million dollar agricultural industry on our six million
cultivated acres. On these lands a constant battle must be waged
against erosion, leaching, subsidence and exhaustion.
Florida has 20 million acres of commercial forests,
producing a quarter-billion cubic feet of timber each year. At present
forest lands contribute nearly 500 million dollars to our annual
e;onomy, but are capable of producing at two and a half to three times
tee present rate when fires and insects are controlled and proper
management practices more widely applied.
he have an abundance of wildlife in wide variety, and the
comercial production of fisheries and other wildlife resources
constitutes a no million dollar a year business. In the fisheries
area, cooperation between commercial and sports fishermen must
constantly be sought and in all areas wise management practices are
essential for, although these wildlife resources are probably in as
good condition today as they have ever been, they are extremely
vulnerable from increasing loss of habitat.
Key among our natural resources of fame and attraction
are our shores and beaches. Not exclusively land or water, beaches
are a combination of both and exist along our 1200 miles or ocean
and Gulf shorelines as well as on many of our 30,000 named fresh
water lakes. Our shoreline today suffers from physical deterioration
and lack of access which, if it should continue unchecked, will
destroy this most valuable asset.
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These then, are the treasures of nature which are entrusted
to the government of Florida and to its citizens. We went to
Tallahassee with the conviction that for too long we had talked too
much and done too little for the preservation of these natural
resources. We found responsibility for conservation scattered through
a half dozen agencies whose leaders met more at occasions such as this
than during business hours at the capital.
Bill Kidd's appointment to my staff marked the first time
a fulltime assistant had been installed in the Governor's Office to
oversee natural resources administration at the state level. We
created, and he heads, an inter-agency committee which brings together
in regular work sessions the agency heads who are here tonight, and
others, to exchange ideas and, most important, to devise and place
into effect a long-range management program in every area of natural
resource concern.
Bill and his Committee have given recognition to the fact
that not even the size and power of bureaucracy can conquer nature -
that neither legislative nor administrative edict can separate the
fish from the water or the trees from the forest; that if we are
going to deal effectively with the problems of nature, we must treat
nature as the unity which it is. The Committee concerns itself with
current problems, to be sure, but its major consideration is the
Florida of 10, 20 or 50 years from new when we must provide for the
recreational needs of a population or 10, or 20 millions. Though
our program is but started, let no review with you some of the actions
we have underway in the natural resource areas I touched on a moment
ago.
The 55 soil conservation districts working in Florida
participate in close liaison with the water management program in
keeping with the multiple interrelationship concept. Similarly they
are in close contact with the Florida Forest Service which is
actively engaged in programs of reforestation, fire suppression and
insect control.
By working with the state's mining industry, it has been
possible to open pits produced by phosphate mining operations for
the fishermen of Florida -- pits that are stocked and maintained
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by the Game Commission to insure high level production at all times.
Wildlife resources are maintained by the Board of
Conservation, which is concerned primarily with salt water fisheries,
and the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission which has responsibility
for 27 game management areas totalling more than 3 million acres.
Under revised procedures and with the inspired leadership of
Randolph Hodges the Board of Conservation is placing greater emphasis
than ever before on service to the fisherman and beater. Artificial
reef programs, the creation or a.Boating Council, and the provision
or forums for cooperation between sports and commercial fishermen,
are all activities for which the Board of Conservation has
responsibility. In the area of the Game Commission's interest,
consideration is now being given a program for developing fisheries
management areas in major lakes and streams. The eradication of
rough-fish and restocking of numerous lakes constitute an important
part or this agency's program.
To preserve natural beauty and to provide recreational
areas for our expending population, we have reversed the tide of
history by bringing sales or state owned lands to a virtual halt.
Within the last year an inventory and evaluation or all state owned
lands has been made available and we now know that the people of Florida
hold some 15,000 acres with an estimated value of $50,000,000. Only
that land obviously devoid of present or potential public use
possibilities is being sold, and we are seeking to add to the state's
holdings other desirable properties.
This land acquisition program carries over to our shores
and beaches as well, for here lies perhaps the most critical area of
need in the state. There is now nearing consummation an agreement
whereby we will acquire for the use and enjoyment of Floridians a
new park, surrounded by clean water and bordered by sparkling sand
beaches. By this one acquisition we will expand our beach
availability by better than three and one half miles. Through the
combined efforts of several state agencies and the cooperation of the
property's owners, we are acquiring this multi-million dollar tract
for but a fraction or its worth -- a worth that will yearly increase.
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Our aim and goal in your state government today is to
approach the preservation and restoration of Florida's natural
resources as a team -- involving all agencies of the state and enlistin1
the support and backing of private organizations and interested
citizens. I am proud that members of my staff were instrumental in
the creation or the state-wide coordinating group for conservation
which completed its formal organization here this afternoon. To the
representatives of the several organizations which are its members,
let me say that we welcome the opportunities your new artiIiation
affords us to work more closely with you, and to share with you as
partners both the responsibilities and pleasures which come from
aggressive conservation action.
It now is my pleasant task to turn to the business of
presenting to several individuals their Sears Awards for contributions
of exceptional merit. I shall not dwell at length on the meaning or
these awards, but I think that each of you who receive them is the
sort of example we can cite here at home, and in other states, as
proof that even as Florida in this space age reaches for the moon.
it seeks with vigor to preserve the natural beauty and rich heritage
of the earth.
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