Passages

Let us look 1,000 years into the future, rather than just 100 years. At that date no one would say that we can depend heavily upon coal and petroleum for the energy base of our world economy. Unless "breeding" of nuclear materials becomes economic, we would also probably be running out of economic ores of uranium and thorium, regardless of any practical exploration efforts. This is the future period for which concern with running out of minerals becomes very serious.

This is the "conservation nightmare"—that our civilization would follow that of the Mayas into oblivion, having depleted its basic natural resources that are within the scope of its technical knowledge. There is, however, one very important alternative: an ecological balance. This is a practical solution, not just an act of faith.

The ecological balance means that solar energy capture could be made adequate for a permanent supply of energy of a world population several times the present at a per capita income level several times that of the United States today. Based upon present basic technology and very heavy investment, most agricultural land would be devoted to fuel plant production and much additional non-agricultural space to solar cells of various sorts.

—Paul W. McGann

The realization that successful organizations manipulate the intellects and wills of their members, as Forest Service experience illustrates, has recently produced a flurry of alarm ... To some observers, this seems to be a threat to the freedom and dignity of man.

These fears are not entirely without foundation, but they are based on a partial view of reality ... That which is called control of the mind is, when viewed from another standpoint, also termed morality. Conscience, principles, patriotism, honor, devotion to duty and to one's comrades, unswerving justice, compassion, resistance to temptation, refusal to submit to attempted intimidation, self-control, and many other much-admired qualities, are evidences of values, attitudes, and beliefs so deeply ingrained that self-interest, personal desires ... are rendered nugatory as influences on behavior.

The same applies to the zeal, conscientiousness, and integrity of the men in the Forest Service; these traits are so thoroughly infused into them that the Service has never been touched by so much as a breath of scandal, although it is the custodian of properties worth hundreds of millions of dollars, has handled many hundreds of millions in receipts and expenditures, and is responsible for a program that was beset by fraud and dishonesty for much of the last third of the nineteenth century.

—Herbert Kaufman