Nick Rahall Quotes

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

Species conversation is beyond a doubt an issue that truly matters to the American public.

Wilderness designations should not be the result of a quid pro quo. They should rise or fall on their own merits.

I've already made a substantial commitment to wildlife by putting my land in the easement. It won't be developed. It will remain there in perpetuity - will be there for the wildlife.

What we should be doing is saving habitats, not single species, no matter what their cuteness factor.

This is the way federal land management should work. Cooperation, not confrontation, should be the hallmark of conservation efforts.

I believe sustainable use is the greatest propaganda in wildlife conservation at the moment.

There is something basic about protecting land by taking it off the market. People should be able to enjoy where they live while at the same time protect the plants and animals around them.

We need to protect our wilderness areas and national parks. Everywhere you travel, you see blight, denuded mountains, logging. If people know what's going on, they'll become activists to safeguard those places.

Conservation has been in eclipse in this country ever since Theodore Roosevelt’s day. It had barely gotten off the ground when Uncle Joe Cannon, the Speaker of the House in those days, issued his ultimatum: “Not 1 cent for scenery.” Well, today we are repealing Cannon’s law. We are declaring a new doctrine of conservation.

We need to stand as a nation, a state, a community to protect wildlife and wild places for our children.

Despite my great disappointment in American foreign policy, I am very proud of the American tradition of wild land conservation. It is the best tradition and example of land conservation in the world. It goes back a long way.

It is imperative for us to protect the flora and fauna around us.

We should continue to mobilise against the destruction of the world's great habitats, and its terrifying implications. But the most persuasive argument we can make is to show we mean it, by restoring our own lost wonders.

The outgrowth of conservation, the inevitable result, is national efficiency.

The continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is important to the quality of life of humans.

I realize the answer is not to create wilderness and walk away.

As founder and co-chair of the upper Mississippi River Congressional task force, I have long sought to preserve the river's health and historical multiple uses, including as a natural waterway and a home to wildlife, for the benefit of future generations of Americans.

The only way to save a rhinoceros is to save the environment in which it lives, because there's a mutual dependency between it and millions of other species of both animals and plants.

Protecting all this land, working with the President to establish all these monuments, to, you know... I think the President has a land protection record that's second to no one in this century, maybe Teddy Roosevelt.

The quicker we humans learn that saving open space and wildlife is critical to our welfare and quality of life, maybe we'll start thinking of doing something about it.

As a nation, we owe a great deal to the National Audubon Society, one of our most distinguished and important environmental organizations, and all those who work to protect America's open land and waterways.

Genetic design is something we can use to fight the lack of sustainability we humans are forcing on the earth's environment.

Governments at all levels and the whole society should act more vigorously to protect the land our lives depend on.

The most important thing is to preserve the world we live in. Unless people understand and learn about our world, habitats, and animals, they won't understand that if we don't protect those habitats, we'll eventually destroy ourselves.