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The Joint Council on Economic Education is a non-profit educational organization created to help improve economic education in America.

To achieve this objective the Joint Council works cooperatively with school systems, universities and colleges, professional organizations, administrators, teachers and pupils, and with lay groups representing all sectors of our national economy. Leadership in developing programs, institutional plans and materials is in the hands of the teaching profession. The Council has no economic program to impose nor any fixed curricular pattern to propose. It does not promote the special interest of any group, engage in propaganda activities, nor attempt to influence legislation.

The Joint Council on Economic Education is directed by educators and governed by a Board of Trustees elected from the teaching profession, business, labor, farm, government and research organizations. It is financed chiefly by grants from the Ford Foundation, the Committee for Economic Development and Resources for the Future, Inc. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Inc., the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the Crown-Zellerbach Foundation, the Sidney Hillman Foundation, Inc. and the Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation, Inc., also contribute to the program.

PREFACE

Decisions concerning the use, conservation, and development of natural resources are a central responsibility of all nations. The wisdom of these decisions has a direct bearing upon the standard of living and way of life which people shall have for themselves and their descendants.

In a nation such as ours, dedicated to the proposition of shared responsibility in making political and economic decisions, it is vital that the education of each individual equip him to participate competently in making decisions about the use, conservation, and development of natural resources. Schools are increasingly recognizing the urgency and complexity of decision-making concerning resources and are providing appropriate knowledge and experiences throughout the curricula of the physical and social sciences.

This publication developed from a conference for persons engaged in conservation and resource-use education, representing colleges of education and state departments of education and conservation from western states. As part of that conference, which was held on the campus of Portland State College, Oregon, in May 1959, the four talks included here were presented to help the group consider the dynamics of resource decisions—

How have the changing knowledge of resources and needs of
people throughout history affected resource decisions and how
have resource decisions influenced historical events and develop-
ments?

How do the supply of and demand for resources in other nations
affect our resource decisions and how do our resource decisions
influence the status and potential of resources in other nations?
In what ways are resource decisions related to technological de-
velopments and the policies of interest groups?

What effect do the philosophy and structure of governments have
upon resource decisions and do resource decisions influence the
philosophy and structure of governments?

The meeting in Portland followed one held in Washington, D.C. in December 1958 for representatives of 17 eastern and southern states. Both conferences were conducted as a phase of the Conservation and Resource-Use Education Project being carried on by the Joint Council on Economic Education through a grant from Resources for the Future, Inc. The initial phase of the CRUE Project, begun in 1955, was focused upon cooperative efforts with selected school systems in various parts of the nation to develop improved curricula and teaching practices in this area of education. In the current phase, cooperation is being extended to develop procedures and materials for use by colleges that train future teachers and for agencies responsible for conservation and resource-use education on the state level.

At the Washington meeting, the following talks were presented: Resources for the Future, Inc.-A Description of the Organization and Its Approach; An Example of a Research Problem Concerning Water as Studied by Resources for the Future, Inc.; The Economics of Conservation and the Long Range Look;

Soil and Water Conservation Highlights; Timber Resource Review; Minerals and Growth; Educational Aspects of the United States Department of the Interior; The Role of Conservation and Resource-Use Education in the School Curriculum-An Economist's View.

In addition to the presentation of prepared talks at these conferences, there was an opportunity for a full exchange of ideas, practices, and materials concerning conservation and resource-use education. Summaries of the conferences have been prepared and can be secured from the Joint Council.

We are pleased to be able to make this publication available and hope it will contribute to the development of understanding and constructive action. Our gratitude goes once again to the authors of the talks and to Resources for the Future, Inc., whose assistance has made the CRUE Project possible.

GEORGE L. FERSH, Director

Conservation and Resource-Use Education Project

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