National Trust, its new president said yesterday.

Mr. David L. White said that is why it is vital to get the 23-year-old Trust on a sound financial footing.

"The Trust is the future,'' he said. "The work the Trust does is among the most important being done in Bermuda today. It is protecting Bermuda for the children of the future.'' Without it, "it would be very easy to turn Bermuda into a concrete jungle,'' he said.

"People tend to be a lot more careful just because they think the Trust might complain. They tend to demand less development because they know the Trust is watching.'' Mr. White, the Editor of The Royal Gazette , has just begun a three-year term as Trust president. He has chaired its $6.5-million capital campaign for the past 18 months. About $3 million has been raised in the "silent phase''. The drive is to go public once the halfway mark is reached.

"We hope to have a major public figure take over the campaign as I give it up to become president.'' Fundraising is tough, because of the recession and the number of other campaigns under way, Mr. White said.

Besides Bridge House in St. George's, which has received a $250,000 gift from the Starr Foundation through American International and an endowment from the Spurling and Gurr families, and the Unfinished Church where work has begun thanks to a $250,000 gift from Mrs. Walter Jones and her family, there are seven St. George's properties which need major renovations, some are funded and some are not, he said.

The National Trust headquarters at Waterville in Paget needs major work, and "Springfield in Somerset is by far the largest of the projects''.

Ideally, enough money is collected to put a property in good shape and endow it for ongoing maintenance, he said. That way, no major fundraising is required in future.

"I hope that by the time my three years as president are up, that I will be able to tell the membership that the future of the trust properties is certain.'' Mr. White, 59, also said: If the Trust membership approves a plan to change five positions on the governing council to elected from appointed ones, "the next logical step'', would be to make the three Government-appointed positions elected as well.

Such a move was suggested from the floor at the Trust's annual meeting on May 26.

Government gives the Trust a large grant and generally appoints members who contribute a great deal, but as the Trust grows, "it may be that we will seek to replace the Government appointments with elected members''.

A report that recommends the elimination of appointed council seats for the Audubon Society, the Bermuda and St. George's historical societies, the Garden Club, and the Keep Bermuda Beautiful Committee is to be voted on by members on July 21.

Although the Trust has an image as white and elitist, the black membership is large.

Mr. White, who has appointed an ad hoc committee to report on broadening membership and increasing members' involvement, said blacks are under-represented on Trust committees and the Council, and he wants that to change.

Government is not doing enough to protect Bermuda's natural and man-made environment.

"It was once the mission of the Department of Tourism to keep Bermuda looking good. They gave that up some years ago, and no one else in Government took it up.

"It's hard to believe that Government isn't first in protecting the attractiveness of a tourist resort.'' The Trust's battle with Government over the Tynes Bay incinerator "may not be over''.

Trust problems over the last three years were due to internal disputes similar to "a family squabble''.

"The people involved all have strong interest in the Trust.'' During his term, "I hope that the director of the Trust (Ms Amanda Outerbridge) will play a much more prominent role than the president.'' MR. DAVID L. WHITE -- The new president of the National Trust.