ABSTRACT
The term resource programming has become popular in a broad informal sense—as a substitute for resource planning which has been in vogue since the early 1930's. This popularity can be traced to the impact, during the 1950's, of programming in its formal sense—as an operationally efficient mathematical technique for obtaining optimum solutions in planning problems. At first sight it appears that the techniques of formal programming would be highly useful for determining the optimum state of conservation. Such determination involves a time allocation of inputs and outputs in resource use which maximizes social welfare under constraints pertinent to the investigation. Formal programming is designed precisely to solve problems of this kind. Quantitative optimizing in economics requires that commensurate indicators of value attach to all physical inputs and outputs of resource use—at least in relative terms. Market prices are taken as starting points and bench marks in valuation.
