80 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



ever, until a majority of the land occupiers in the district vote in 

 favor of them. 



With this power to force people to carry out a land-use 

 plan there is a section of the Act which enables land occupiers 

 to appeal to a board of adjustment and even to the state courts, 

 if they feel that the regulations of the district cause them un 

 necessary hardships. The district may be discontinued upon an 

 affirmative vote of a majority of the land occupiers. 



The Soil Conservation Service, as well as other federal, 

 state or private agencies, may cooperate with the Soil Con 

 servation Districts upon request of the District supervisors, 

 and assist them in carrying out a soil conservation program. 



There are two important things to notice in this law. The 

 first is that a majority of the people in a district can work out 

 a solution of their land-use problems. At the same time the 

 rights of a minority in such a district are protected. The second 

 is that in about one-half the states where soil conservation 

 district laws have been passed, tenants have equal voting rights 

 with landowners. In other states, however, only owners of 

 land may vote. 



Once it has been set up, the Soil Conservation District 

 becomes a unit of government just as a county is a unit of 

 government. This is a very important point. The recent de 

 velopment of groups to manage the use of land is a change in 

 our government structure. The Soil Conservation Districts, 

 the Gracing Districts, water conservancy districts, and many 

 other units of land use which are discussed later in this book, 

 all have a certain governing power. Up until the time when 

 these new units were created, our government was set up on 

 what are called political units, that is, the township, the county, 

 the city, and the state. The basis of a political unit is con 

 venience, that is, each political unit represents an area of land 

 or a number of people which can be efficiently governed. The 

 new units of government, such as the Soil Conservation Dis- 



