A new research laboratory, “dedicated to Man—toward his future on this planet,” was officially opened today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.
The new facility is the wildlife-pesticide laboratory at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center near Laurel, Maryland—the first Federal installation built specifically for wildlife-pesticide studies.
It is operated by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife of the Fish and Wildlife Service
“The work done here may prevent or halt the spread of ‘silent springs’ that stalk the earth—for this laboratory marks the beginning of a new national awareness of the present and potential danger we have almost thoughtlessly brought upon the world in which we live,” Secretary Udall said.
In his address Secretary Udall paid high tribute to Rachel Carson, author and former staff member of the Department of the Interior, who “has reminded us with compelling urgency that man is part of the balance of nature, and no matter how much we think we can indiscriminately alter the balance of nature—we are still a part of it.”
The secretary pointed out that pesticide residues have been found in virtually every type of warm-blooded animal; that measurable amounts have been found in both bottom fish and surface feeders; and that “man himself is slowly building up in his body small—but relentlessly cumulative—traces of chemicals that were manufacture and used to improve the life we live and the food we eat.”
Secretary Udall said incredibly small quantities of some chemicals can destroy shrimp grounds; that uncounted thousands of birds have died from the widespread use of chemicals; and that “mat too has been afflicted in some cases fatally.”
“Pesticides have done much good,” he added. “There is no doubt about that. But evidence of the price we have paid is around us. We cannot longer ignore the unanswered questions.”
“What we are doing to our total environment by spreading millions of pounds of deadly chemicals over the land? Are we in danger of losing part of our precious wildlife heritage? What price can we put on the song of a bird?”
“The answers to these and other problems cannot arrive too soon, it is already late evening on the conservation front, “Secretary Udall continued. “For although nature has been good t us and a Nation, we first responded by trying to undo nature and created instead an amoebic growth of urbanization that walled nature and ushered in the problems of pollutions—of our rivers, the air, estuaries, and the land itself.
“Today we need to heal those wounds by cleansing civilization’s offal from our land, water and air. We need to save living remnants of the big country our forefathers knew. We seek a marshalling of the talents of the researcher and the farmer to provide increased yields of food and fiber to meet the needs of rapidly increasing populations, and above all we look for increased understanding of how we can reach these goals without trampling on nature.
“Let us hope the route to be followed by those who work in this laboratory is on leading to a better control of what we regard as nature’s enemies without muting or diluting the total living environment of which we are a groping part.”
