From: JEK@cu.nih.gov
Subject: Watt misquoted
Lines: 30


 heath@athena.cs.uga.edu (Terrance Heath) writes:

 >    I realize I'm entering this discussion rather late, but I do
 > have one question. Wasn't it a Reagan appointee, James Watt, a
 > pentacostal christian (I think) who was the secretary of the
 > interior who saw no problem with deforestation since we were
 > "living in the last days" and ours would be the last generation
 > to see the redwoods anyway?

For the Record:

On February 5, 1981, at a House of Representatives
Interior Committee Meeting, Rep. James Weaver (D, Ore), asked Watt
whether "you agree that we should save some of our scenic resources
for our children, not just gobble them up all at once?" Watt's
answer was:

 < Absolutely. That is the delicate balance the Secretary of the
 < Interior must have -- to be steward for the natural resources
 < for this generation as well as future generations. I do not
 < know how many future generations we can count on before the
 < Lord returns.  Whatever it is, we have to manage with a skill
 < to have the resources needed for future generations.

My source is a column by Rowland Evans and Robert Novak on the
op-ed page of the WASHINGTON POST for Friday 21 August 1981.

 Yours,
 James Kiefer