LANDSCAPE ACTION PROGRAM 479 



An action program for beauty in the American landscape neces- 

 sarily cannot apply to every rural area. The concepts involved in 

 a broad program need to be made specific. For this purpose the 

 idea of "target areas" is helpful. These are areas which are promi- 

 nent for many people to see and where ugliness, or the absence of 

 beauty, is jarring to most people. We will do well to especially 

 concentrate our action upon such target areas adjacent to roads, 

 adjacent to lakes and streams, and adjacent to the places where 

 people live and work. 



Programs of action to beautify the landscape of rural America 

 require: 



1. Motivating people, and local units of government, to want 

 to act. 



2. Making available "how to do" information, including soil 

 information. 



3. Obtaining good "what is to be done" plans for the target areas, 

 plans that are locally prepared or locally approved. 



4. Financing help from various levels of government. 



5. Lots of publicity, and making a fuss over accomplishments 

 of local groups. 



6. Stepped up research. 



7. Having the Federal Government set a good example at its 

 installations and in its programs. 



There are Department of Agriculture programs that fit at every 

 step of this process. Secretary Freeman has directed Agriculture's 

 agencies to do everything within their power to help beautify rural 

 America from motivation to setting a good example. He has 

 established a coordinating focus for departmental activities in the 

 Assistant Secretary for Rural Development and Conservation and 

 the newly established Rural Community Development Service. The 

 different agency responsibilities include : 



1. The Federal Extension Service is to provide leadership in de- 

 veloping and initiating education programs in cooperation with the 

 Cooperative State Extension Service. Theirs is the job of motivat- 

 ing people and local governmental units to want to act. 



2. The Forest Service and Soil Conservation Service are to pro- 

 vide technical assistance to landowners, communities, etc., in ac- 

 cordance with their present methods of carrying out leadership 

 responsibilities. This is the "how to do" information, and the "what 

 is to be done" plans. This assistance will emphasize the multiple 



