THE FARM LAND 79 



not carry out a land-use control program. The answer to this 

 was the Standard State Soil Conservation District Law. 



SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICT LAW 



Early in the 193CTs the farmers of the Piedmont Region of 

 Alabama decided to pool their resources and buy the equipment 

 necessary to stop erosion on their land. They organised terrac' 

 ing clubs which raised the money to buy bulldozers and terracers 

 and other machinery which is used in building terraces to hold 

 back the flow of water down hillsides. The idea spread to 

 Georgia and other states. 



The Department of Agriculture took up this idea of land 

 use planning within the states shortly after the Supreme Court 

 decision against the first Agricultural Adjustment Act had 

 checked federal land-use control plans. With this new idea as 

 a beginning, the Department of Agriculture developed the Soil 

 Conservation District plan. The Department drew up a model 

 law based on this plan for the states to consider and adopt. This 

 was the Standard State Soil Conservation District Law. 



So far twenty-six states have passed laws providing for the 

 organization of Soil Conservation Districts. Briefly, this is 

 how the law operates. Twenty-five or more occupiers of land 

 may petition the State Soil Conservation Committee for the 

 formation of a Soil Conservation District. After hearings are 

 conducted, the land occupiers of the proposed district vote on 

 whether they want to form such a district. Before a district 

 can be set up, a majority must vote for it. 



The Soil Conservation District has its elected supervisors 

 who are in charge of the land-use program in that district. They 

 may provide the farmers with technical or financial assistance 

 in carrying out a soil conservation program. The supervisors 

 may propose land-use regulations and set up penalities if they 

 are violated. These regulations cannot be put into effect, how 



