Michael Dombeck Quotes

As a nation we have not yet come to have a proper respect for the forest and to regard it as an indispensable part of our resources—one which is easily destroyed but difficult to replace; one which confers great benefits while it endures, but whose disappearance is accompanied by a train of evil consequences not readily foreseen and positively irreparable.

Our forest policy is not to preserve forests because they are beautiful—though that is a good in itself—not to preserve them because they are refuges for wild creatures of the wilderness—though that is a good in itself—but rather to conserve them in order to guarantee a steady and continuous supply of timber, grass, and above all, water.

Maintaining healthy forests is essential to those who make a living from the land and for those of us who use them for recreational purposes.

Every acre of forest should belong to the people.

The oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it..

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect

That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics..

Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land.

I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend?

If you cut down a forest, it doesn't matter how many sawmills you have if there are no more trees.

The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.

Conservation of land and conservation of people frequently go hand in hand

Land is not something you inherit from your parents. It is something you borrow from your children.

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us.

Most of our political support for forest preservation comes from the Northeast where there are few forests. The Americans back East realize that they have made a historical mistake and failed to preserve and protect their original forests, and they don’t want the rest of the country to make the same mistake.

God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the seas…. God said “Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It’s yours.”

There is more old growth forest today in California today than there was in 1850. The Indians had destroyed most of them.

Attention! Land Thieves and Natural Resources Grabbers …. Under [Theodore] Roosevelt any doubt about the power of the Chief Executive to make withdrawals of public land was resolved in favor of the people.

The primary object of our forest policy, as of the land policy of the United States, is the making of prosperous homes… You can start a prosperous home by destroying the forests, but you cannot keep it prosperous that way.

God put the human race in charge of managing the resources of the entire planet for the benefit of all life. Therefore, we, of all people on this planet, should be concerned about environmental issues and doing what we can to enhance the beauty and productivity of the natural realm.

We are now heading down a centuries-long path toward increasing the productivity of our natural capital - the resource systems upon which we depend to live - instead of our human capital.

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.

I'm not an extreme tree-hugger. I do believe trees grow and are a useful agricultural product that can be harvested without damaging the ecology and wildlife.

A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.

If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will in the end not produce food, either.