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W. R. KIDD'S
ADDRESS TO THE
STATE CCVVENTION
OF THE
IZAAK WALTON LEAGUE
Stuart, Florida
May 15-20, 1762
I am grateful for your invitation to me to appear before you
today and for the opportunity to tell the people of Florida of the
importance of their nvtural resources. I would also like to report
on the activities of the Governor's Committee on Recreational
Development. The interest which prompted your asking me here is
encouragement to us and I hope that when I have finished you will
went to assist us in the Job of mrking the people of our state aware
of the problems which we face in the various areas of natural resource
management.
U2 live. in these days, in an age of generalities-~when titles
and adjectives are applied by the press and public to categorise
individuals and interests in the simplest possible terms.
For example. you are known generally as conservationists. Those
of us who occupy positions in government are often called bureaucrats.
There is a tendency for you to look on us as wheeling and dealing
operators whose normal habitat is the smoke-filled room and whose
interest in conservation is confined to seeing how fast we can
errant: for good fishing grounds to be torn up by dredges and sur-
planted by developments. On the other hand. in many governmental
circles you are regarded as people dedicated to throwing flies in the
bureaucratic ointment.
Neither of these exaggerated descriptions is true, of course,
but both come close enough to the actual manner in which government
and conservation people regard each other as to be of concern to us
all. In times when our natural resources account for a two and a half
billion dollar slice of Florida's basic economy and when state
expenditures in the conservation field total, as they do in this
fiscal year, more than 32 million dollars, we are sorely in need
of more conservationists in government and of more politically
minded individuals active in organisations such as this. 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 development of a new concept in the manage-
ment of our resources.
Our growth from 20th to 9th among the states in population rank
in a span of only 10 years has imposed upon us problems which make
obsolete the attitudes and practices which have prevailed for many
years in our approach to this problem. As we have struggled to keep
pace with our growth in the building of highways, the improvement
and expansion of educational opportunities and many other essential
services, there has been a tendency for conservation to be lost in
the shuffle. This has been partly due to apathy or only passing
interest in this area at the highest levels of our state government;
partly it has been because groups such as this, possessed of a vital
interest in oonservation,have been limited in their interests and
have lacked a strong voice by which to make themselves heard in the
offices of the Capitol and the halls of the Legislature.
The idea that conservation demands the setting aside of our
natural resources to be maintained in a natural state, unused and
untouched by man, has long since fallen by the wayside. Our concern
today is to guard and guide the destinies of those areas which a
bountiful nature has bestowed upon ua by the application 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.
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8o rushed and hectic are our times, that we seldom stop to
inventory and evaluate the natural resources of which we glibly speak.
Let me call to your attention Just a few with which we are non con-
oerned:
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 reason for concern
existent today which has reached sufficient proportions to cause the
Legislature to enact measures for the control of artificial rain-
making 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 industrialised.
Water, in the form of our 55 inch annual rainfall, tremendous
groundwater reserves and numerous surface water features, constitutes
one of the most enviable of Florida's natural resources. Despite its
abundance, Floridians face today problems of drought and flood; of
reclamation, distribution and the fearsome spectre of contamination.
As the demand for water is rapidly increasing, the need for well-
planned programs of conservation, protection and management grows
more urgent .
Although the soils of our state are not of exceptional quality,
wise utilization 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
quarterbillion cubic feet of timber each year. At present forest
lands contribute nearly 500 million dollars to our annual economy,
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but are capable of prooucing at two and a half to three times the
present rate when fires and insects are controlled and proper manage-
ment practices more widely applied.
Although it is little lauded, Florida's mineral wealth provides
the world's major source of phosphate and enables the mining of
significant quantities of limerock, clay, sand and gravel and a
number of heavy minerals. The total annual production is valued
at about 185 million dollars and, while our supplies are substantial,
they are not inexhaustable and great care must be exercised to
prevent wastsand misuse.
More citizens are aware of our wildlife resources than any other
of nature's gifts. We have an abundance of wildlife in wide variety,
and the commercial 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 shape today as they have ever been, they are extremely
vulnerable from increasing loss of habitat.
Florida is famed throughout the world for the beauty of its
natural scenery. It stands unique as the only sub-tropical area
in the continental United States, but that uniqueness stands to be
lost if careful developmental procedures are not formulated and
adhered to in every area and at all levels of government.
Coupled with scenery as a natural resource of fame and attrac-
tion are our shores and beaches. Not exclusively land or water,
beaches are a combination of both and exist along our 1200 mils
ocean and Gulf shoreline as well as on many of our 30,000 named fresh
water lakes. Our shoreline today suffers from physical deteriora-
tion and lack of access which, if allowed to continue unchecked, will
destroy this most valuable asset. a
When he assumed office Governor Bryant was e-are of these
resources and the danger" which beset them. He was aware that in
years past we have talked too much about conservation and done too
little and he understood that the beneficial programs which were
undertaken (and they were considerable) suffered from excessive
administrative dispersion, disorganization and lack of agency co-
ordination which caused fine programs to be hog-tied by red tape or
to be bottled up for lack of effective communication.
To be sure that his personal interest in conservation matters
was vigorously pursued the Governor 'ecame the first Chief Executive
in history to establish in his office a full-time assistant to ever-
see natural resource administration at the executive level. He
created an inter-agency committee bringing together for the first
time in regular sessions the heads of all conservation-related
agencies in the state to exchange ideas and-~most important-~to
devise and place into effect a long-range management program in
every area of natural resource concern.
The Governor has given recognition to the multiple interrela-
tionship concept of resource management--that neither legislative nor
administrative edict can separate the fish from the water or the
trees from the forest; that nature must be considered as a unity if
it is to be effectively dealt with. He has urged in all projects
consideration of possible recreational uses of our natural resources,
so that the maximum benefit to our citizens may be ohtained, and,
although the program he is leading is but barely begun, progress is
already evident; for example, let us consider the natural resources
I have outlined to you:
climatic studies will provide information for proposals to the
1963 Legislature for the prevention and control of atmospheric pol-
lution. Already there are in existence eight major water management
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authorities--created by the Legislature at the Governor's urging--
which encompass all or part of no counties and well over half the
state's land area. In the reorganization of the State Board of
Conservation, which the Governor endorsed, the Division of Water
Resources has been given new and broader responsibilities for water
resource development and management.
The 55 soil conservation districts working in Florida partici-
pate in close liaison with the water management programs 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. Last year 119 million pine seedlings were planted on
175,000 acres of land and 68 million of these seedlings were produced
and distributed by the Forest Service, which itself maintains and
scientifically operates four state forests, embracing more than
300,000 acres.
While the mining industry is largely self-regulating, the state
does feel a definite responsibility to assist where possible. The
Division of Geology of the Board of Conservation makes a substantial
contribution toward this end by conducting continuing studies and
explorations into our mineral resources. By working with the indus-
try, it has been possible to open pits produced by phosphate mining
operations for the fishermen of Florida-~pits that are stocked and
maintained 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 totaling more than 3 million acres. Uhder revised
procedures and with new leadership the Board of Conservation is
p
placing greater emphasis than ever before on service to the fisher-
man and beater. Artificial reef programs, the creation or a Boating
Council and providing forums for cooperation between sports and
commercial fishermen are all activities for which the Board of
Conservation has responsibility. In 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 eradica-
tion or rough-fish and restocking of numerous lakes constitute an
important part of this agency's program.
To preserve natural beauty and to provide recreational areas for
our expanding population, the Governor has led the way to bringing
sales of state owned land: to a virtual halt. Within his administra-
tion an inventory and evaluation of all state owned lands has been
made available and we now know that the people or Florida hold some
15,014.97 acres with an estimated value of $h8,618,679. Only that
land obviously devoid of present or potential public use possibili:he
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, more of which we are attempting to place in public ownership.
It is in this area, too, that for the first time since it was legis-
lated in 1957, the state's responsibility for beach and shore preser
vation is receiving serious cons' ration-~consideration that is but .
a prelude to action.
I hope that by these illustrations of the scope and nature or
our concern and activities in the field of conservation you will see
that what we are talking about is a big business, affecting in one
way or another nearly all or our citizens.
To make the efforts of the state successful, strong and effective
support must come from groups such as this. The image of conservaon
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and conservationists must be changed. All citizens need to be made
to understand that when we talk about conservation we are talking
about their heritage and their holdings--not debating the fate of an
extinct ibis meaningful to a relative few.
At present there are efforts afiot in thida to Join the many
conservation organizations with state-wide membership and interests
into a union which will provide a single voice representative of all
who love the outdoors regardless of whether their special interests
are fishing, hunting, bird-watching or Just walking in the woods.
From such a union will come an effective means of communication,
whereby we in government can inform you-~as individuals and organi-
zations--of our activities and you in turn can inform us of your
desires.
I doubt that Governor Bryant will perform an act during his
term of greater significance than that of his bringing together all
of the conservation agencies of our state. Although specific
interests around the conference table differ, the major concern--
for a better Florida-- is the same. If conservationists in Florida
can come together in like fashion to support and to foster worthy
programs, then the safety of our heritage will be assured.
The image ofthe conscrv-tioniat toe:; in blurrcd. Tcncrrcw it
can-~it should and it must--be clear. The leadership that Governor
Bryant is giving today and the progress he is inspiring must not be
lost when he leaves office. The future of conservation in Florida
rests largely in the hands of citizens such as you and the support
you give to the broad range of activities on which we are embarked.
As one deeply involved in these programs let me assure you that your
support will be uglcomed as has your kind attention.
Thank you.
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415-4bte. Arifcalr avide recreational arena for s led the way to bringing alt. Within his administralate owned lande has been -ople of Plarida hold some of $4B,616,679. Only that tial public use possibili'Te to t e state's holdings s over to our shores and to place in public ownership. at time since it was legisfor beRCh Rnd ShDPe p&BseT--consideration that is but r the scape and nature of f conservation you will see asiness, effecting in one :essful, strong and effective 3. The image of conservadon
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