Land Betrayed (1970)

[Music] [Music] never have so many americans gone looking for america never have there been so many visitors from overseas many travelers ask what should i look for if we made a film to show them we could photograph some of the most beautiful natural scenes in the world [Music] we could record man-made marvels to rival anything in europe or the orient [Music] we could also show perhaps less spectacular beauty that americans have created nearly everywhere [Music] there are some things however that we wouldn't want to show some scenes we wouldn't want in our film this presents a problem because wherever they go our travelers can't help seeing something that can be described with one word one word that according to the dictionary means unattractive unpleasant offensive unsightly objectionable ominous the word is ugliness and it is ominous for the generations of the future if we don't begin to do something about it now we may not be personally responsible for any of it but we are responsible for letting it survive and grow [Music] there are several areas where the cancer of ugliness has set in first the approaches to almost every city and town in the country [Music] [Applause] so [Music] and in the cities and towns even on the way to the concert hall the theater and the art museum is ugliness [Music] on the road to our scenic wonderlands from the great smokies to the cascades more ugliness within the scenic wonderlands themselves we spread ugliness in yellowstone national park one of our most spectacular natural attractions geysers and pools must be continually cleaned to remove the litter thrown into them by sightseers [Music] in mount rainier national park another kind of ugliness names inscribed by vandals must be hand scoured from glacier rocks in an expensive erasure procedure these rocks are among the great wonders of the area they show the marks of the ice sheets that form the land in ages past and finally our waterfronts on lakes on rivers and on the beach [Music] [Music] have you ever heard someone say why don't they do something about it but who are they they of course are you and me [Music] there are two definite steps we must take we must subtract the elements of ugliness then in most cases we must add something of beauty the job is already started here's what some people have been doing civic brigades have been organized to collect roadside junk and litter [Music] in many communities laws prohibit unsightly junk dumps along highways fire ordinances have been passed in many states to make weed grown lot cleanup mandatory many responsible companies have screened old car graveyards with fencing [Music] dilapidated buildings can be condemned as dangerous or as fire hazards steps are being taken to refurbish our waterfronts and waterways so far it is no more than a start we need expanded effort in this whole area the anti-litter organization keep america beautiful estimates that the cost of cleaning up litter from public and private lands is one billion dollars a year this is money that could be used for worthwhile projects in every community there is positive action that can be taken to subtract local ugliness then it will be much easier to add beauty this to a great extent is concerned with planning with seeding beauty for the future one good example is private enterprise planting flowers on park avenue in new york city we can also plant greenery on street sides and around our homes in almost any town usa when columbus came ashore there was very little ugliness on this continent the poet said happy the land that has no people this means happy and undefiled the land where people have never lived it is true people are the only ones who can make america ugly and people are the only ones who can restore and protect its beauty this is for you and me [Music] let us work to make the poet wrong let us not betray this land so that in spite of great history progress and a nation teeming with life we can prune back the growth of ugliness we will seed beauty everywhere for this great land again [Music] you