From Sea to Shining Sea: A Report on the American Environment—Our Natural Heritage

Intelligent people are aware that civilization is now capable of destroying itself, if not by warfare, then by neglect of its environment. This publication is unique in that it does not merely catalog our environmental ills but provides extensive information about what can be done to alleviate them. The body of the book, about equally divided between nontechnical prose and halftones, cites hundreds of examples of how cooperation between citizen groups and government provided the impetus to overcome specific environmental problems. The overall theme is that of local and regional planning, coordinated within the framework of ecological theory and empirical knowledge.

The Council emphasizes certain problem areas by making about 65 proposals for executive or legislative action on federal or state and local levels. Many of these recommendations should be acted upon promptly to enhance the quality of our surroundings; others are so vague or so politically untenable that they