CONSERVATION CHARLEY by Harry Corry 



Ralph Sanderson is typical of a lot of the 

 citizens of the United States - when It ,comes 

 to conservation, at least. He reckons that any- 

 one who can get all het up about the subject 

 must be a little lopsided in the head. 



"Conservation is for the birds, "he'll say, 

 " . . the cuckoos and gooney birds, that is. 

 We've got the greatest country in the world, 

 haven't we? We're loaded with natural resources 

 aren't we? Right now, for Instance, our surplus 

 crops are giving us a king-sized headache. And 

 every year, without fall, Mother Nature dumps 

 an endless supply of fresh water on us. We've 

 got a jlllion forests filled with zillions of 

 trees. We've got oil and natural gas and coal 

 and iron and copper that keeps pouring out of 

 the ground and begging to be used." 



He pauses to see if you fully comprehend the 

 limitless supply of resources which are at our 

 beck and call. 



"Now why in tarnation should anyone in their 

 right mind preach the need of conservation when 

 we're saturated with the stuff we're supposed 

 to conserve?" he triumphantly concludes. 



You, being a conservationist, look at him for 

 a moment and size him up as a first class museum 

 piece. He's certainly living in a world of 

 fantasy. But what can you tell a bird like him? 

 . . . where do you start? 



A newpaper editor sitting in Washington, D. C. 

 must have had Ralph in mind when he composed the 

 following editorial for the Evening Star : 



"A nation, troubled by ever-increasing summer 

 drought and the need for more and more water, 

 and disturbed by the disappearance of forests 

 and the ruthless attempts to take over national 

 conservation areas and parks, might well remem- 

 ber we are but travelers on a journey, sojourn- 

 ing here for awhile. Others will come after us. 

 They will witness what we have done during our 

 sojourn. 



"In the ancient places on the earth, where 

 man first was, and where recorded history first 

 began, that which brings a sense of awe and ex- 

 citement to the traveler is the sight of cities 

 dead now for thousands of years. There is a 

 stirring of the mind, too, in seeing their ruins 

 in deserts, knowing that once there were fields 

 and vineyards there, wells, aqueducts, and irri- 

 gation streams - that once caravans came laden 

 with spices and foods - that once children ran 

 and played where now are ruins and deserts. 



"One can find them - the filled-ln wells, 

 stretches of painstakingly made aqueducts bring- 

 ing water from distant slopes, deep-dug cisterns 

 and old terraces where once crops grew. 



"In Syria and Lebanon the Romans cultivated 

 land inland for 150 miles which today are desert 

 So abundant was its production of small grains 

 or corn, that much of it annually was exported 



2 



to feed crowded, always hungry Rome. 



"Great cities tremble and see that if pollutl<| 

 of streams Isn't halted there will not be enougtj 

 water to drink. More and more farmland is glveri 

 over to industry and the pressure grows on what 

 is left. 



"Suddenly, in the midst of too much, a fear 

 begins to gnaw." 



RECREATION INVENTORY 



The recent Inventory of Existing Outdoor Pri- 

 vate Recreation Businesses by Enterprises and 

 Activities shows the following for Montana: 



No. Enterprise Acres 



842 Cabins, Coggates & Homesltes 43,132 



103 Camping Grounds 14,498' 



52 Field Sports Areas '2,960 



84 Fishing Water 12,610 



27 Golf Courses 1,664 



130 Hunting Areas 56,811 



41 Natural, Scenic & Historical 



Areas 10,633 



36 Riding Stables 16,233 



1 Shooting Preserve 



59 Vacation Farm or Dude Ranch 57,041 



48 Water Sports Areas 23,092 



19 Winter Sports Areas 3,308 



The above figures show significant acreages 

 already devoted to recreation. Because of 

 different interpretations by SWCD's, this inven- 

 tory will be reviewed this winter. Soil Conser- 

 vation Service Area Conservationists and Fish & 

 Game Supervisors will assist the Supervisors and 

 the Technical Action Panel. 



SOIL CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 



The SCSA's objectives are the development and 

 advancement of the science and art of good land 

 use and management and the promotion of conser- 

 vation of soil, water, and related renevable re- 

 sources. 



Membership Is open to those who directly or in- 

 directly further the program of soil & water con- 

 servation. All readers of this publication are 

 Invited to Join. Dues are $7.50 to the parent 

 society and $1.00 to the Montana chapter. A 

 bi-monthly "Journal of Soil & Water Conservation" 

 is included in the dues, and is well worth the 

 price of membership. 



Montana Chapter Officers are: 



0. M. Ueland, President, Montana Tech, Butte; 



Wendell Thacker, V. President, Box 855, Bozeman 



Anthony Gels, Secretary-Treas. , Route 2, 

 Sourdough Road, Bozeman. 



