CO:iSERVATIO.\ C1LA.RLEY by Harry Corry 



Earl Warren, Governor of California, looked 

 out over his great and sovereign State one 

 sunshiny day several years ago. The face of 

 the land bore scars left by the ravages of 

 erosion. He multiplied what he saw that day 

 by forty-seven other great and sovereign 

 states and remarked: 



STATE SOIL CONSERVATION COMMITTEE BIEbfNIAL 

 REPORT SHOWS SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION WORK 

 IN MONTAI'^A - A BIG BUSINESS 



The biennial report of the Montana State Soil 

 Conservation Committee to the Governor has been 

 published and copies distributed to legislators, 

 conservation agencies, and Soil and Water Con- 

 servation Districts, 



"For more than a century of our national 

 existence, the woodman's axe, the hunter's 

 rifle, the farmer's straight furrow, the 

 overgrazing of our rangelands and the diss- 

 ipation of our minerals, started us on the 

 road to the same decadence that has destroyed 

 many nations and even civilizations of the 

 past. 



"The thing that has destroyed these na- 

 tions more than any other thing is that in 

 each Instance their soil was abused and 

 neglected. In their cases it was not due 

 merely to indolence and ruthlessness. It 

 wa£ due to ignorance and to a decadence 

 that spread over the land slowly through 

 many centuries — so imperceptibly that the 

 people of any one generation could scarcely 

 see what was happening. 



"But with us, fortunately, the situation 

 is different. Most of the spoliation has 

 occurred within the lives of some people who 

 are still in being. We can see the results of 

 bad practices and, fortunately, we now know 

 how to preserve land for the unmeasured fu- 

 ture. We cannot claim ignorance, because 

 the findings of good conservation practices 

 have been made. They are available to farm 

 and city folks alike. We can see in many 

 places, side by side, distinct evidence 

 both of neglect and good husbandry. 



"What right have we in America to assume 

 that if we do not heed the warning of history, 

 if we do not correct the erosion here at 

 home, that we can escape what has been the 

 inevitable end of other improvident nations?" 



Because of the increased scope of activities of 

 Soil and Water Conservation Districts and addi- 

 tional responsibilities of the State Soil Con- 

 servation Committee in Watershed Projects and 

 Resource Conservation and Development Projects, 

 this report shows significant progress that has 

 been made, together with and certain data as to 

 the basic resource development needs of Montana's 

 future. 



All Soil and Water Conservation Distriot Super- 

 visors and cooperating agency people are encour- 

 aged to read this report. 



$8,321,915 were paid out for materials and 

 work for soil and water conservation practices 

 in fiscal 1965. Some accoraplislunents were 808 

 farm ponds, cost $1,600,000; 29 irrigation stor- 

 age dams, cost $366,000; 123 sprinkler systems, 

 cost $423,500; 349 wells, cost $592,000; 

 118,914 feet of streambank protection, cost 

 $474,000; 13,427 acres of land leveling, cost 

 $1,006,725, plus many others. 



$39,487,900 is shown in total increase in net 

 return as a result of proper range use, conser- 

 vation cropping systems, drainage, water manage- 

 ment, and others. These figures indicate the 

 magnitude and the impact of soil and water con- 

 servation and development upon the economy of 

 Montana. Cooperating Conservation farmers and 

 ranchers of Montana are to be complimented for 

 these achievements, together with fine assistance 

 of conservation agencies and organizations. 



This increased production means jobs and a 

 higher standard of living for us all. 



