NEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH CORPS 



The State Soil Conservation Coranittee is in- 

 vestigating the possibility of sponsoring a 

 Soil & Water Conservation Neighborhood Youth 

 Corps under the Economic Opportunity Act. 



Iftider the proposed program, local youth in 

 the age group of 16 through 21 would be able to 

 work full or part time as conservation aids on 

 conservation projects in their local Soil and 

 Water Conservation ItLstrict. It is expected the 

 program will be year round and that youth would 

 be employed from six months to two years. 



The youth would gain valuable work experience 

 as well as play an important part in building a 

 better community. 



Some youth are presently taking advantage of 

 the Youth Corps program under various other 

 sponsorships for the summer months. Probably, 

 the State Soil Conservation Committee will have 

 the Consei^ation Program ready to go by September 

 1, if negotiations can be properly worked out. 



EXECUTIVE SECRETARY COMPLETES VISITS 



0. M. Ueland, Executive Secretary of the State 

 Soil Conservation Committee, has completed his 

 schedule of visits to all Soil & Water Conserva- 

 tion EUstricts since January 1 qf this year. 

 Area Conservationists of the Soil Conservation 

 Service accompanied him on most of his visits. 



Ueland visited with the local resource people 

 (TAP Committees) for four hours at each meeting 

 to review their relationship to the Srf^CD, and 

 also to follow-up and revise and update the In- 

 ventory of Resource Conservation and Ttevelopment 

 Needs on non-federal lands. This inventory was 

 originally done under the direction of the Pub- 

 lic Lands Committee of NACD. It enables Super- 

 visors to look their resource needs right in the 

 face. It is a basis for revising and developing 

 the SWCD Program. The inventory is valuable to 

 agency people in developing their programs. 12.s- 

 trlcts can make use of these figures in publi- 

 cizing to their local communities the investments 

 that local farmers and ranchers make in Soil &; 

 Water and related resource developments with the 

 assistance provided by local, state, and federal 

 government. The inventory taken in 1962 showed 

 that a total of $311,526,000 would be spent or 

 invested in resource development as high priority 

 needs for six years. $12U,620,000 of this was 

 shown to be the estimated total cost of high pri- 

 ority needs for six years on the private lands, 

 exclusive of Indian lands and State lands. 



State and regional offices of the Forest Ser- 

 vice, Bureau of Land Manafement, and Bureau of 

 Indian Affairs are or have reviewed these inven- 

 tories of the needs for the lands which they ad- 

 minister. 



New state summaries are being tabulated and 

 will be available from the SSCC late in the year 



NACD PUBLIC LANIB MEETING 



Art Chrtstensen and 0, M, Ueland attended the 

 NACD Public Lands Committee Meeting in Denver, 

 May 27, and 28. All the Western States, except 

 Utah, were represented. Art reports that this 

 was one of the better meetings that he has 

 attended. 



Walt OLmond from Wyoming, Chairman of the NACD 

 Public Lands Committee, reported: 



1) That the Association is concerned about 

 more land going into public status. 



2) SWCD Cooperators as users of land are con- 

 cerned, some use public land altogether; all 

 are concerned with use, 



3) The Association favors multiple use; land 

 is only so good as it can be used, 



U) NACD has fostered cooperation. Who is 

 more fitting than Districts to do the job to 

 get cooperation? Agencies have opened the door. 



5) Public Lands Group could be the most im- 

 portant group in fostertng cooperation, 'Super- 

 visors are elected grassroots leaders. The bur- 

 den is on supervisors but not enough are in the 

 harness. Success depends on Districts, 



6) Problems lie not in compatability of tises, 

 but in compatability of users. 



Curt McVee of the BLM reported on the working 

 of the Taylor Act which was set up to manage -the 

 public land depending final disposition and the 

 new Multiple Use and Classification Act which 

 provides that certain lands should be retained 

 for management and certain lands should be dis- 

 posed of. He further explained the reasons for 

 public ownership: 



1) Unstable Soil - IDsvelopment is a public 

 responsibility, 



2) Economic reasons - Valuable for other than 

 private values, 



3) Forests - Long time return. 

 k) Marginal Lands, 



The reasons for private ownership are that a 

 democratic society requires it. 



The Public Land Law Review was discussed and 

 the Committee passed the resolution asking that 

 the Commission that has been appointed to do thisi 

 work get organized and get this job done because 

 so many things depend on their final recommenda- 

 tions. 



Public Lands Committee was concurred in the 

 Bureau of Land Management-Soil Conservation Ser- 

 •»ice Agreement, Also, BLM-SWCD Agreements were 

 worked on. The Committee Members e:}q)ressed the 

 feeling that finally a working arrangement, an 

 understanding has been reached whereby Districts 

 and BLM will work as a team. Attitudes are 

 good on both sides. The challenge is to Dis- 

 tricts to assert leadership. 



Thp two dogs were lonkir 

 at one of the new-fangled 

 twist dances. After awhile, 

 one looked at the other and 

 said: "When I act like that, 

 they give ME a worm pill," 



