Sept. 25, 1963 - President Kennedy mixed politics and conservation today as he barnstormed westward on his “nonpolitical” tour of the land of Lewis and Clark — and Goldwater. In his final speech of the day, at the Yellowstone County fairgrounds near Billings, Mont., Mr. Kennedy made sweeping claims for his Administration in the field of conservation. He called on Montana to support three pending Administration programs — a bill to make it easier for state and Federal Governments to develop recreation areas, the Youth Conservation Corps, and the wilderness preservation bill. At Billings too, before the friendliest audience he saw all day, Mr. Kennedy got concrete evidence of popular support for the nuclear test ban treaty approved by the Senate yesterday. The crowd of 7,500 applauded and cheered with great enthusiasm when he declared: “What we hope to do is to lessen the chance of a military collision between these two great powers. That’s what we’re trying to avoid. That’s why I’m for the test-ban treaty.” Earlier, Mr. Kennedy spoke and received a Doctor of Laws degree in the University of North Dakota’s fieldhouse.
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