by Mark Norris
Good evening. Thank you very much for inviting me to be the keynote speaker on the occasion of your annual meeting. I was especially honored to be referred to in the winter edition of River Currents as "a notable friend of our environment". Although that is personally very satisfying to me, I hope that I might leave you tonight with the knowledge that you have many friends of the environment in County government at present, one of whom is also here tonight -- Chairman of the County Conservation Board, John Sheahan. Together with County Mayor Jim Rout and the entire Board of County Commissioners, we have begun to make some discernible progress in protecting and enhancing the environment in Shelby County since we took office in the autumn of 1994. Mayor Rout has embarked on the largest expansion of public parks in the County's history with five new parks underway throughout the County. He reinvigorated the County Conservation Board by appointing new members under the leadership of John Sheahan, and I had the good fortune of serving as Chairman of the Commission's conservation committee during the past two years which gave me an opportunity to play a part in these exciting developments. I mention some of these accomplishments in an effort not to ingratiate ourselves to this distinguished gathering of conservationists but to reaffirm that, with a little effort and the right input from the likes of the Wolf River Conservancy and others, the public and private sectors can indeed work together to safeguard our natural resources while meeting the other demands of twenty-first century America.
On a related note, I should set the record straight concerning River Currents crediting me with obtaining federal funding to stop headcutting and to fund the Metro Area flood study. It is true that I have worked hard on these initiatives and will continue to do so, but the fact is that --we obtained the funding--together. Everyone from Jim Rout to Charles Askew; Ed Bryant to Larry Smith; Fred Thompson to Hamp Dobbins. Charles organized the first environmental forum which Mayor Rout and I attended as candidates back in 1994 and I pledged to you then to do everything in my power as a local elected official to improve our quality of life through quality, planned development. Little did I know that several years hence I would be bouncing around the halls of Congress with the likes of Charles Askew toting picture boards depicting the ravages of headcutting to our West Tennessee delegation. And then there was the canoe trip through the Ghost River with Representative Ed Bryant which has really caught on as Charles was back at it with Governor Sundquist and the press corps several weeks ago. Eileen Segall has provided me with infrared aerial photography which so vividly portrays the effects of encroachment upon the banks of the Wolf River. Long before I ever thought about serving on the County Commission, Larry Smith spent time counseling me about threats to our fragile groundwater. In fact, it was Larry who helped me back in 1993 in my first zoning battle before the County Commission against a potentially destructive development in the area where we live. That is when I first met Jim Rout as well as then Chairman Charles Perkins both of whom cast hard votes against the development and in favor of those of us who opposed any threat to the groundwater. It was that event which ultimately lead me to seek office when Mr. Perkins stepped down, and it has been especially important to me to pick up where he left off in our quest to complete the Wolf River Wilderness Area greenway. And finally, let me pay tribute for just a moment to our friend Hamp Dobbins, Director of the Shelby County Environmental Improvement Commission. Hamp has done so much to fight for the cause of conservation. He and I had the honor of presenting your own Eileen Segall with an award for her accomplishments on behalf of the Wolf River Conservancy just last year. Hamp and his fellow Shelby County Government employees have instilled the importance of nature and conservation of natural resources in countless classrooms throughout the County and this past year began the hazardous waste recycling program which has been a tremendous success. You may have even gotten your own County-sponsored composting bin as a result of Hamp's efforts. Now Hamp is fighting a different battle--a battle against cancer which has him fully preoccupied for the time being, but I want him to know how much we appreciate his efforts and that we are praying for him and his family during this difficult time. So it is that many hands make light work in Shelby County.
Or perhaps I should say -lighter work because the fact is that a lot of heavy lifting remains to be done by all of us if we are to successfully balance progress with preservation.
It was Franklin D. Roosevelt who said, "Men and Nature must work hand in hand". The throwing out of balance of the resources of Nature throws out of balance also the lives of men. I represent the fastest growing district in the county. It is the largest district in the largest county in the State of Tennessee with seven cities among which is Collierville which is not only the fastest growing city in the state of Tennessee but one of the fastest in the entire United States. The development is tremendous and has created a tremendous economic engine which benefits all of us in Shelby County regardless of where we live. The challenge is how to nurture that type of growth and economic development without throwing out of balance the resources of nature.
To do that, we must do several things. We must take the long view of what is best for society from the broadest possible perspective. We must protect and preserve our natural resources without infringing upon private property rights and individual liberties, and we must economize in our efforts to find practical solutions to common problems.
Water resource management comes readily to mind, and the Wolf River provides a wonderful metaphor for what we need to do. It transcends many of the geographic boundaries within my district and the County as a whole. It cuts across all economic and social lines as it wends it way to the Mississippi. And though the Wolf River may mean different things to different people, when it comes to our common water supply, it is the common denominator. We are confronted with great challenges presented by subtle threats to our precious water supply every day.
Now, we need to apply the same principles and efforts along the Nonconnah and Loosahatchie Rivers. In fact, we are already working on development of the same type of greenway system along the Nonconnah and recently received a donation of just less than two hundred acres of wood and wetland from the Turley family to be used exclusively for conservation purposes in southeast Shelby County.
In conclusion, good things are happening in conservation here in Shelby County. We hope to maintain the momentum by better coordinating future efforts and resources of the County Conservation Board, the Chickasaw Basin Authority, Shelby Farms Board, Agricenter and others in what I hope may become more collaborative efforts with the assistance of this group and its counterparts in conservation. I commend the efforts of the Wolf River Conservancy to broaden its base and to reach out in the spirit of cooperation as you have so effectively done in recent years to help us in public service do right by Nature. To strike the right balance between progress and preservation, to work hand in hand--Man and Nature--and to preserve the equilibrium of life itself.
Thank you.
