Mast, Gary W.

English

Research Papers in Economics

U.S Department of Agriculture 
 
Agricultural Outlook Forum 2004 
 
February 19 & 20, 2004 
 
 
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND: WILL THE U.S. EMBRACE THE 
LANDCARE MOVEMENT 
 
LANDCARE- A CONSERVATIONIST’S PERSPECTIVE 
 
Gary W. Mast 
NACD President This Land is Your Land: Will the U.S. embrace the Landcare 
Movement 
 
Landcare-A Conservationist’s perspective 
Gary W. Mast, NACD President 
 
  Thank you, Larry. It is my pleasure to be here this morning to discuss Landcare. 
Earlier this month we had Brian Scarsbrick, CEO of Landcare Australia,  address our 
annual NACD meeting on the subject of Landcare. He did and outstanding job of 
explaining this concept to our audience. And he and Landcare ideas were well received by 
our folks. 
  Since I served on the US delegation last May to visit Australia to study Landcare 
and attend a Landcare conference, I have been serving with a group of folks who are 
discussing how we might adapt the Landcare initiative underway there and help advance 
the cause of conservation in this country. I also serve as President of NACD so I am 
especially excited about how these efforts could tie into what conservation districts are 
doing across the USA.  
  Providing leadership for national conservation policy will always be a big part of 
NACD’s way of determining the USA conservation picture, but I am excited about this 
new possibility for promoting conservation in our country. With the general public, there 
is little recognition or ownership of conservation activities in America. There is a 
tremendous amount of work done by our three thousand districts and our conservation 
partners including the several million landowners and users across the nation each year.  
Soil and water conservation districts are codified into state law and are locally led by 
citizens which results in lots of community involvement, even beyond the cooperating 
landowners.  There are other groups of citizens that are in existence doing important 
conservation work - RC& D’s, watershed groups, environmental clubs, CORE 4 groups 
and no-till clubs to name a few.    
  But the work done by these groups is known and recognized by less than 10% of 
the population in America. Why should we care? Because people only support, either with 
their legislators or with their money, that which they know and understand, or at the very 
least, recognize as valuable. We know that a healthy environment is an important value for 
many Americans. Yet we are failing to tap into that value, to enhance the crucial work we 
do.  
  In Australia, they seem to be more successful in tapping into that shared value in 
their society. As you have heard here this morning, they have formalized a conservation 
movement brand called “Landcare.” The brand has a unique logo consisting of two hands 
brought together, with the shape of Australia in the palms of the hands. Landcare in 
Australia consists of many government and private partnerships in awareness campaigns 
and environmental repair projects. Eighty-three per cent of Australians recognize the 
Landcare logo and programs. 
  While I believe our conservation programs are stronger than those in Australia, we 
can learn much from that country about relating to the general public and obtaining private 
sector support for conservation. We should stop being America’s “best kept secret!”  We need to increase the public recognition of our efforts and enhance those efforts with 
celebrity promotion, private enterprise partnership and endorsement, and additional 
opportunities for citizens to be actively involved. 
  I believe we can find ways to use the Landcare ideas and help advance the full 
conservation agenda here in the USA. It means that we will need to work together to form 
appropriate organizations and coalitions to make it happen. But we have an advantage in 
that many organizations and leaders are already in place.  We can build on these to find 
common ground with one another and with new people who care for our land.  Our 
general public needs to know the purpose and value of environmental, forestry, and 
conservation projects, programs and initiatives. For too long, many people have taken for 
granted the public benefits such as cleaner water, healthier soils and forests, improved 
productivity, open space, improved wildlife habitat and the many other outcomes of the 
conservation work in this country.  Landcare can both help tell the story and invite 
participation of all who are concerned.  
  I can illustrate my point by telling a story based upon an ancient Asian legend.   
Four blind men in the village were friends and spent their days discussing things about the 
world.  One day the topic of “elephant” came up.  None had ever “seen” an elephant, so 
they asked to be taken to the elephant to find out what it was.  One touched the side, 
another the tail, another the trunk and the fourth touched the elephant’s leg.  After their 
tour, they got together to discuss what they had “seen.” 
  “The elephant is just like a wall,” said the first blind man.  “No, it is like a rope,” 
said another.  “You are both wrong, said the third.  “It is like a large snake!”  The fourth 
argued it was like a tree trunk.  
  Sometimes we, in caring for the land, get blinded by our perspective.  We tell all 
those around us about what we see the problem and solutions to be.  Landcare can help us 
all describe the whole picture, and an elephant has more appeal than its tail!  The big 
picture for America is that the land is your land and it needs your care!   
  We will continue to study and learn more about this highly successful public and 
private conservation partnership and how Landcare might be adapted for use in the United 
States. NACD is willing to play a role, along with others, on this initiative in our country. 
Greater efforts in marketing conservation, which is one of NACD’s main goals, can only 
strengthen and improve on conservation success in America. 

LANDCARE-A CONSERVATIONIST'S PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Research Papers in Economics