RE CLASSIFICATION OF PUBLIC LANDS 



According to a recent letter from John 01 sen, 

 Chairman, NACD Public Lands Committee, Soil and 

 Water Conservation Districts have an opportunity 

 to assist the Bureau of Land Management in 

 recommending to what use and classification 

 (federal lands within their boundaries should be. 



A review of the inventory of Conservation 

 [Needs on BLM lands would help to determine the 

 [classifications. In Montana, SWCDs can be par- 

 Iticularly helpful in assisting the Bureau in 

 ildentifying and classifying the uses of small 

 'acreage of intermingled federal lands. 



RE CREATION INVENTORY 



Soil and Water Conservation Districts in 

 Montana, with the outstanding assistance of 

 Members of Local Technical Action Panels, have 

 nearly completed a review and updating of the 

 Income Producing Recreation Enterprises in each 

 of their counties. This information will be 

 used by the State Fish and Game Department In' 

 the State's recreation plan. 



It also will be used by Districts in deter- 

 mining needs for additional recreational 

 enterprises and advising prospective recreation- 

 al developments. 



C ONSERVANCY DISTRICT LEGISLATION 



Pete Jackson, Chairman of the Montana Associ- 

 ation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts 

 Legislative Committee and 0. M. Ueland of the 

 State Soil Conservation Committee continue to 

 neet with the Legislative Subcommittee to 

 draft proposed Conservancy District Legislation, 

 The last meeting was April 25 at which time 



uggestions for a third draft were submitted. 



rogress is encouraging; however, the recom- 

 nendations of the State Soil Conservation Comm- 

 ittee and the Montana Association of Soil and 

 flafer Conservation Districts that organiza- 

 tional procedures through the courts ba changed 

 las not been accepted. 



Also, the recommendation that SWCDs may be 

 given. If they desire, additional authorities 

 3S proposed for a Conservancy District has 

 thus far not been accepted. 



Another meeting will be called by Chairman 

 itcGowan near the end of May. 



You have reached middle age 

 when the weight lifting you do, 

 consists of standing up. 



If you've remembered what 

 they taught you in the history 

 hooks, you'll recall this 

 nation was founded largely to 

 avoid taxes. 



STATE WATER USERS COf^MITTEE 



A new water users organization is being set 

 up in Montana. Its objective is to get the 

 collective efforts of all organizations to work 

 together to develop Montana's remaining unclaimed 

 water, to put it to beneficial use before It is 

 lost. The proposed organization would set up a 

 Board of Directors from 12 Districts across 

 Montana. 



The reaction of present organizations is that 

 this Is a duplication of their efforts and what 

 is needed is to make better use of present or- 

 ganizations instead of setting up a new one. 

 However, hopefully, no doubt, the present or- 

 ganizers feel that their efforts will, by com- 

 bining the efforts of present organizations, 

 come up with one effective organization. 



Soil and Water Conservation Districts are 

 caught in this also as legal entities organized 

 at the local level to promote, develop, and 

 carry out water conservation programs. 



In the last analysis, financing water develop- 

 ment projects is the problem. 



MONTANA CONSERVATION COUNCIL 



Land, Our Basic Resource was the theme of the 

 Annual Meeting of the Montana Conservation 

 Council held in Great Falls. Dick Fabrick of 

 Choteau gave an outstanding talk on "Land and 

 People". He emphasized the dangers of reappor- 

 tionment as recently enacted, which does not 

 give proper representation to the land. 



Fred Ritchie, Director, Conservation and Land 

 Use Policy, ASCS, USDA, spoke on "Who Pays for 

 Conservation?". Over two billion dollars a 

 year is required to maintain conservation of 

 our resources. Less than one-half is presently 

 being done, and this mostly by farmers and 

 ranchers. On the brighter side, Ritchie stated, 

 however, much is being done and told of many ex- 

 amples. 



NATIONAL 4-H CONSERVATION AWARDS PROGRAM 



District Supervisors should talk the Conserva- 

 tion Awards Program over with their 4-H officials 

 and do whatever is possible to get 4-H boys and 

 girls to take part. 



This program Is sponsored by the John Deere 

 Company. 



People will believe anything, 

 if you whisper it. 



We know a character who got 

 his somewhat reckless wife to 

 drive carefully. He told her If 

 she had an accident, the papers 

 would print her age. 



