CONSERVATION CHARLEY 



BY Harry Corry 



'Me? A wildlife manager?" Hai-vey guffaws. I'M 

 a farmer, he say. "I raise cows and alfalfa and grain. 

 I'm not concerned with ducks and pheasants and deer 

 and fish. " 



Lots of folks agree with Harvey. "A farmer can't spend 

 time fooling around with wildlife and still make a living',' 

 Ihey point out. 



They believe this because the picture's fuzzy. They 

 haven't got their set tuned in very well. 



Actually, farmers aie the largest group of wildlife 

 managers in this country. It is true that most of them 

 are amateurs at it. It is also true that many of them 

 are poor wildlife managers. But good, bad or indif- 

 ferent, farmers and ranchers are actively managing 

 a good portion of our wildlife resource. 



Farmers and ranchers control or use 

 more than 75% of the land area of the 

 United States. We know that wildlife is 

 is a product of the land just as cows 

 and sheep and potatoes and wheat are. 

 It is obvious, tnerefore that most of 

 our wildlife must be produced on the 

 same acres that farmers and ranchers 

 are using to produce their crops. 



Farmers and ranchers control or use more than 757c 

 of the total land area of the United States. We know 

 that wildlife is a product of the land just as cows and 

 sheep and potatoes and wheat are. It is obvious, there- 

 fore, that most of our wildlife must be produced on the 

 same acres that farmers and ranchers are using to 

 produce their crops. 



Wildlife, must of necessity, be a secondary crop as 

 far as the farmer is concerned. He must farm and 

 manage his farm for the production of the crops which 

 pay his bills, buy his machinery and send his children 

 to school. Wildlife must be produced right along with, 

 and incidental to, the farmer^ s main crops. 



It might seem that such a situation would almost auto- 

 matically lead to less and less wildlife as our land is 

 more intensively farmed. But such is not necessarily 

 the case. 



How often do we hear that a certain stream is fished 

 out? Or that a particular area doesn't produce as 

 much game as it used to? Generally, the reduction of 

 fish and game is blamed on hunting and fishing pres- 

 sures --too manv people, in other words. Yef'it is a 

 matter of record that in some of our more heavily 

 populated areas where land is farmed intensively and 

 hunters and fishermen swarm like bees there is more 

 wildlife today than there was in the same areas when 

 Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett and Buffalo Bill were 

 roaming the countryside. 



Harvey asks the logical question, "How can that be?" 



fJasically, the answer is simple. The 

 and has been made more attractive 

 to wildlife. It has been made to pro- 

 duce more wildlife and at the same time 

 produce more farm crops. 



We can only conclude that there is a _ 



relationship between productive farm 

 land and wfldlife production. 



in order to produce good farm crops year after vear a 

 ^S®J" "^"k- iise good Ipd management practices. He 

 TM^h^'Zl^l^ so [fertile and in good physical condition. 

 This IS wTiere soil conservation fits intothe picture. 



Soil Conservation is a way of farming and ranching 



fhP iSnH^'J.'^fi^f^^?^"^ ^^® fertility o1 the land butTceeps 



the land protected from loss of soil by wind and water 



Generally, farmers who operate with poor land manage- 

 "'^^^ LP'^.^S^Pu^s ^^ destroying the pr»auctivitY of theTr 



oV;h 0*;,^) . rif* "^^ uesiroymg ine pr«ductivitY of the;i 

 ??t ^ ^L ^^,^^^ ^'^,^ ^^ desd-oylng wildlife hab- 

 itat. On the other hand farmers who use good soil 

 conservation practices are keeping th.lr fand produc- 

 tive and, directly or ndirectlyV are imVlM it more i^^ 

 attractive to wildlife. Wildlif^can fii^^appy home *- 

 on that land. 



With farmers and ranchers as wildlife manaiers and 

 soil conservation practices as their toole wildlife can 

 continue to flourish despite our mushrooming pooulation 

 and more intensive use of our land. 



"Me? I'm a wildlife manager, " Harvey says. "I raise 

 cows and ducks and pheasants and alfafia and deer and 

 giain. 



And He's doing a pretty fair job of it, too. 



DISTRICT DOINGS 



The Supervisors of North Powell SWCD recently made 

 a tour of three ranches to judge who their "Outstanding 

 Cooperator" for the year should be. 



Missile Calbe line travel sites are now ready for grass 

 seeding according to Army Engineer Morgan Wheeler, 

 Chief of the real estate sub-office in Great Falls. 

 Ranchers will be paid by the U.S. Government at the 

 rate of $25 per acre. 



Don Baldwin of the State Forest Nursery reports they 

 are harvesting the trees that will be shipped out next 

 spring. They are of exceptional quality. Districts are 

 encouraged to get orders in early. Bulk orders are 

 encouraged. Reference is made to Liberty County 

 SWCD which places bulk orders and makes a fair pro- 

 fit in its distribution process to local buyers of trees.' ' 



Your SWCD's - This next month will find the super- 

 visors of each District making plans for 1964. Each 

 fall they set up a work plan to be carried out the next 

 year. Anyone having suggestions please contact your 

 supervisors so they can carry out your needs and de- 

 sires. 



Some of our past years accomplishments have been as 

 follows. Working with watershed development groups, 

 tours, livestock selection demonstration, outstanding 

 conservationist, care of Tice Grass plot, Fairdisplay, 

 sponsor 4-H members to Conservation camp, provide 

 material for Soil Stewardship Sunday, cost return meet- 

 ings, work with ASC personell and Weed Board; what 

 suggestions do you have for 1964 ? - - from Deer Lodge 

 Valley and North Powell SWCD Newsletter. 



Lower Musselshell district received a request from the 

 County Commissioner that they would like to be taken 

 on a range tour and have the SCS show them what they 

 consider when making a range survey. It waS agreed 

 that the Service ought to do this and that at least two of 

 the supervisors would be present of said tour. 



The State Soil Conservation Committee will meet Wed- 

 nesday, November 13 commencing at 10:00 a.m. in the 

 Rainbow Hotel in Great Falls. 



Q 



Continued on F*age 7 



