Little Bitter Root Lake 4-H Conservation Camp, Continued 



The youths were reminded they have the brainpower to solve the problems of waste and 

 pollution, and were urged to come up with the courage and fortitude to do it by WILLIAM J. 

 KESLER of Kalispell, past president of the Montana Association of Soil and Water Conserva- 

 tion Districts. County SWCDs paid transportation for most of the delegates. 



Kesler explained, "everyone is only inches from a 'desert', and the soil and moisture 

 covering the land must be protected so that the one-ln-eight of those who will become farm- 

 ers or ranchers will be able to continue to produce food and fiber for himself and 44 others 

 — or more." 



"Some 24 million acres annually are lost to highways, urban growth, industry and other 

 non-agricultural needs," Kesler said. "The air and water of many communities fast is be- 

 coming polluted and there are new threats," he said. 



"Pollutlod and waste can be controlled, and possibly could be non-existent by the year 

 2000, " Kesler said. "Be not the polluters of our present and past generations," he asked 

 the youths. 



Kesler' 8 description of Soil and Water Conservation Districts goals — to keep a balance 

 between water and soil resources needed for commercial agriculture production — were re- 

 peated In various ways by instructors and speakers. 



"America faces a decision on the amount of land which it can put under asphalf" said 

 John Harris, University of Montana Wildlife Extension Director from Missoula. He said 

 California is ulng 100 acres a day for urban growth. 



"Of 36 billion acres of real estate in the world, four billion acres have been used u| 

 for agriculture and development, most of what is suitable," Dr. Harris said. "Anything done 

 to land affects something else, particularly the food chain or energy-nutrient cycle 

 which produces potential food," he said. "In this chain only about 10 percent is trans- 

 ferred in each stage as the sun, water and soil nutrients combine to create minute plants 

 and animals, which in turn provide food for insects, grasses and plants," Dr. Harris said. 

 "These in turn are consumed by forage fish or animals to in turn provide food for game 

 fish, game animals or man," he explained. "Whether the grass-rabblt-hawk, plankton-insect- 

 forage fish-game fish or other cycle, any change in air or water quality changes the bal- 

 ance," he said. 



The food chain was detailed as basis for wildlife classes by Eldon Smith, Extension 



Wildlife Specialist. He related the transfer of energy in nutrient form for fish, game 



animals, upland birds and waterfowl as he described the type of management required to 



maintain both wildlife and its habitat. 



"Hunter harvest may be far wiser conservation than trying to feed elk or any unnatural 

 effort to build up game numbers," Smith said. He said "wild Montana elk produce three to 

 four times as many live calves for a given number of cows as the Jackson, Wyoming herd 

 which has been fed hay for years." 



"Anyone can be a conservationist, but far too few people are," said George Ostrua, 

 Kalispell business consultant and former Forest Service smokejumper instructor. He 

 described Montana's 'blue-ribbon trout stream', the Madison River, as 'completely like 

 a garbage dump from one end to the other on both sides'. 



"Having only 14 million of two billion acres of wilderness left is like starting with 

 $1,000 and having only $7.00 left," Ostrum said. 



Ostrum said, "as an 'anti-dam man' he opposes a dam on the Big Hole River or the 

 Missouri River in Montana and termed high mountain lakes for irrigation storage in the 



Continued on Page 5 



