Transmittal to Congress of the Progress Report of the National Resources Committee.

To the Congress:

THE PROVISION for the wise use and conservation of our national resources must necessarily be one of the primary responsibilities of the Federal Government at all times. Through research leading to the development of programs and recommendations, the National Resources Planning Board and its predecessors have been at work for the past six years in the interest of planning for resources conservation and use. This is democratic planning. It is decentralized; it is based on the wishes of the people who through their elected representatives decide what plans we will develop and follow; it is planning "from the ground up."

The accomplishments of the National Resources Committee in a large measure have been the results of cooperation with Federal and non-Federal planning groups. Today there are planning organizations by various names in many Federal agencies; there are also forty-three State Planning Boards and hundreds of county and city planning groups. The continuance in operation of these democratic planning activities demonstrates the desire of our people for the utilization of long-range planning to conserve and develop our resources.

The functions and duties of the National Resources Committee, as you know, were transferred under Reorganization Plan No. i to the National Resources Planning Board in the Executive Office. The story of the Committee's work and a picture of the responsibilities that lie ahead of the National Resources Planning Board are presented in the Progress Report of the National Resources Committee, which I now transmit for the information of the Congress.