THE NORTH AMERICAN CONSERVATION CONFERENCE 



167 



lands by irrigation and of wet lands by 

 drainage is manifest. We therefore 

 favor the participation of the public to 

 secure the complete and economical de- 

 velopment and use of all water avail- 

 able for irrigation and of all lands sus- 

 ceptible of profitable drainage, in order 

 to ensure the widest possible benefit. 

 Special projects should be considered 

 and developed in connection with a 

 general plan for the same watershed. 

 In the matter of irrigation public au- 

 thority should control the headwaters 

 and provide for the construction of 

 storage reservoirs and for the equitable 

 distribution and use of the stored 

 water. 



LANDS 



We recognize land as a fundamental 

 resource, yielding the materials needed 

 for sustaining population, and forming 

 the basis of social organization. In- 

 crease in the productivity of the soil is 

 a growing need, and the possession of 

 the land by the men who live upon it 

 not only promotes such productivity, 

 but is also the best guarantee of good 

 citizenship. In the interest of the 

 homemaker, we favor regulation of 

 grazing on public land, the disposal of 

 public lands to actual settlers in areas 

 each sufficient to support a family, and 

 the subdivision of excessive holdings 

 of agricultural or grazing land, thereby 

 preventing monopoly. 



The preservation of the productivity 

 of the soil is dependent upon rotation 

 of crops, fertilization by natural or arti- 

 ficial means, and improved methods in 

 farm management. The quantity and 

 quality of crops are also dependent 

 upon the careful selection of seed. We 

 therefore favor the distribution by Gov- 

 ernment bureaus of scientific and prac- 

 tical information on these points, and 

 we urge upon all farmers careful at- 

 tention thereto. 



The national importance for grazing 

 of non-irrigable public lands too dry 

 for cultivation, and the public loss oc- 

 casioned by overgrazing, are generally 

 acknowledged. We therefore favor 

 Government control of such lands in 



order to restore their value, promote 

 settlement and increase the public re- 

 sources. 



The first requisite for forest or other 

 covering which will conserve the rain- 

 fall and promote regularity of water 

 flow is the retention of the soil upon 

 watersheds. We therefore favor the 

 construction of such artificial works as 

 may efifect this purpose and the en- 

 couragement thereof by remission of 

 taxes, Government cooperation or 

 other suitable means. 



MINERALS 



We recognize the mineral resources 

 as forming the chief basis of industrial 

 progress, and regard their use and con- 

 servation as essential to the public wel- 

 fare. The mineral fuels play an indis- 

 pensable part in our modern civiliza- 

 tion. We favor action on the part of 

 each government looking towards re- 

 duction of the enormous waste in the 

 exploitation of such fuels, and we 

 direct attention to the necessity for an 

 inventory thereof. Such fuels should 

 hereafter be disposed of by lease under 

 such restrictions or regulations as will 

 prevent waste and monopolistic or 

 speculative holdings, and supply the 

 public at reasonable prices. 



We believe that the surface rights 

 and underground mineral rights in 

 lands should be separately dealt with so 

 as to permit the surface of the land to 

 be utilized to the fullest extent, while 

 preserving Government control over the 

 minerals. 



Regulations should be adopted look- 

 ing to the most econr^mical production 

 of coal and other mineral fuels and 

 the prolongation of the supply to the 

 utmost. We favor also the substitu- 

 tion of water power for steam or other 

 power produced bv the consumption of 

 fuel. 



Great economy in the use of fuel has 

 resulted in the past from the applica- 

 tion of scientific inventions and the use 

 of improvements in machinery, and 

 further progress can be made in the 

 same direction. We therefore recom- 



