Susan Wiley: Balance economic gain with sustainable use of natural resources borrowed from future generations

To The Daily Sun,

“We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children” is a quote we often hear on Earth Day. As we talk about permits for gas stations, car washes, laundromats, and landfills near the ponds, rivers, lakes, and now an aquifer, we might gather some input from the largest group of stakeholders, our children. One of the old television shows “Do You Know More Than a Fourth Grader?” comes to mind. It is reassuring to know the majority of our upper-elementary school students know far more about water safety, pollution control, and clean air than any other generation. School-based curriculum with hands-on science activities as well as the child care programs, our surrounding community camps, i.e. Barry Conservation 4-H Camp, the Squam Lakes Association, Tin Mountain, the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center do a superb job of providing up-to-date information. Wealthy we are when it comes to our natural resources, our forests, water, soil, air. Let us continue to balance economic gain with the sustainable use of the natural resources we borrow from the next generations.

Susan Wiley

Sandwich