"I'm a lifelong environmentalist. My voice piped at age ten: "I give my pledge as an American to save and faithfully to defend from waste the natural resources of my country--its air, soil, and minerals, its forests, waters, and wildlife." I got infected by that Conservation Pledge through the magazine Outdoor Life and proceeded to paste it on everything and everyone around me. Since the concept of pledge has long been rendered meaningless by the surreal Pledge of Allegiance that American schoolchildren have to recite, what I meant in 1948--and mean now--is: "I declare my intent to save and defend from waste the world's natural resources--its air, soil, and minerals, its forests, waters, and wildlife."