Local Issues

Up until a generation ago, federal resources policy could be summed up in a single word: abundance. In 1905, we instituted the National Forest Service under the guidance of Gifford Pinchot, who summed up the agency's mission with this simple maxim: "The greatest good for the greatest number in the long run." We recognized that America's vast natural resources gave us the tools for unparalleled prosperity, and that we should responsibly manage these resources on a sustainable basis for the continuing prosperity of the American people.

I appreciate the invitation to speak today among these distinguished public officials about the future of Lake Tahoe, and I especially want to thank Sen. Heller for bringing us all together today for a candid discussion about the future of Lake Tahoe. When I visit with community groups here - not the politicians or the professional environmentalists, but the shopkeepers and employees who actually live and work here - their singular struggle is with a stagnating economy and a staggering unemployment rate hovering around 16 percent.

Here is the fine point of it. They didn't sit out the war. More Californians volunteered for the Union Army per capita than any other state in the Union.

A defining aspect of the American tradition is that groups of citizens band together for a wide variety of civic purposes. They recruit volunteers, raise funds and spend those funds to promote whatever project or cause brings them together.