Annual Review of Disfricfs' Acflvify 



Conservation Yearbook' Planned 



(Continued from Page 1 ) 

 bte editorial and photographic layout (a 

 good-looking and informational booklet). 

 it is mandatory that we who are charged 



with the responsibility of publishing the 

 booklet set some deadlines. Accordingly, 

 here is the schedule we are asking that you 

 adhere to: 



Letter to Sen. Mansfield Cites 

 Reasons for MACD Proposal 



fED/TOft'S NOTE The following letter, sent to 

 Sen Mike Mansfield by MACD's public information 

 c/iairman. with copies to the others m Montana's 

 Congressional delegation, cites the reasoning be- 

 hind MA CD 's proposal for Office of Education fund- 

 ing of a fiscal 1973 information I education prot- 

 ect In the interests of wide understanding of the 

 proposed pro/ect by MACD's membership, it is re- 

 printed below f 



Reference your letter of 24 February, 

 acknowledging receipt of a copy of 

 MACD's application for Office of Educa- 

 tion funding of a statewide informational/ 

 educational project, perhaps the following 

 may prove helpful in your much-apprecia- 

 ted offer of assistance: 



1 ) The project proposed by the Mon- 

 tana Association of Conservation 

 Districts and Montana's office of the 

 State Superintendent of Public In- 

 struction suggests a cooperative ef- 

 fort by district-level conservation- 

 ists and the school system unparal- 

 leled by any Environmental Educa- 

 tion Program— ever or anywhere! 

 Its objectives are the ultimate appli- 

 cation of the broad guidelines set 

 down by President Nixon as to what 

 the funding should endeavor to 

 achieve. 



2) Montana is not yet In the position 

 of so many of the states — contamin- 

 ated almost beyond resurrection. 

 Hence, the Office of Education has a 

 real opportunity to assist in the de- 

 velopment of a program of a truly 

 preventive nature before the fact, 

 rather than aimed at trying to turn 

 the clock backward (a much more 

 expensive and impossible task.) 



3) The experimental nature of the 

 individual school systems working 

 with practicing conservationists to 

 educate our youth to the necessity 

 of environmental protection (com- 

 plete with how-to-do-it action pro- 

 grams) could well provide a model 

 for every other state with similar 

 groups. Such a pilot program in 

 Montana would provide the Office 

 of Education with an ideal test lab- 



Open Burning 

 Not Good Idea 



open burning rs not usually a good 

 agricultural practice, SCS warns Be- 

 sides polluting the air. it destroys prop- 

 erty—fence posts, utility poles, bridges. 

 crops, forage, etc. 



As a rule it does more damage to de- 

 sirable grasses than it does to weeds 

 and shrubs, according to SCS- Vital 

 parts of bunch-grasses are mostly 

 above ground where great damage can 

 be done by fire. 



Burning can usually be avoided, ac- 

 cording to Clark Neilson. supervisor 

 of the open burning program for Mon- 

 tana. When burning is necessary, the 

 State Department of Health and En- 

 vironmental Sciences, Air Quality Bu- 

 reau has a permit program insuring the 

 most desirable results County sanitar- 

 ians, sheriff's offices or the fire chief 

 usually handle this program. 



oratory— in that, because of our pop- 

 ulation scarcity and minimum en- 

 vironmental imbalance, the program 

 can be Instituted, operated and eval- 

 uated at a minimum cost . . . while 

 still providing a maximum potential 

 for adoption by other school sys- 

 tems in states where the pollution 

 problems are almost insurmount- 

 able. 



4) The only real hope of preventing 

 what has already happened in the 

 eastern and southern states in terms 

 of environmental disaster lies with 

 the states included in Region VHI. 

 We must learn the lessons of the 

 despoiled industrial areas of our na- 

 tion quickly — and teach them to our 

 youth If we are not to fall into the 

 same miserable trap. Yet in fiscal 

 1971, only five Office of Education 

 environmental grants were awarded 

 for the entire Region VIII area — 

 North and South Dakota, Wyoming, 

 Utah, Colorado and Montana! (In 

 contrast. Massachusetts had six 

 grants approved — with only a faint 

 hope of maintaining a status quo on 

 an sEready ccntaminated environ- 

 ment, and hardly a prayer of really 

 improving the environment. 



Certainly I realize the tremendous needs 

 and the demand for what necessarily is 

 a rather limited funding program. I also 

 admit my bias for Montana— gladly and 

 thankfully But. even so, 1 would think fed- 

 eral money would be more effectively util- 

 ized helping keep the horse in the barn — 

 rather than chasing him after he has been 

 allowed to escape. 



— Your district's check for $50 maif- 

 ed to MACD's state office in Hefena 

 prior to 1 July. 1972 (on the theory 

 that it's easier to send money than 

 get organized in submitting the 

 editorial and/or photographic ma- 

 terial—and such an advance commit- 

 ment on your part will help us tre- 

 mendously in determining how big 

 a booklet we should plan for.) Inci- 

 dentally, if you would like to have 

 your section of the booklet financed 

 by supporting businesses In your 

 community, there is certainly no ob- 

 jection—just be sure and send a list- 

 ir^ of the financial cooperators so 

 that they may receive proper recog- 

 nition on your page. 



— Your editorial and! or photograph- 

 ic material mailed to MACD's state 

 office in Helena prior to 1 Septem- 

 ber. 1972. And here, don't get 

 "shook" over your writing prowess 

 —just send what you want included 

 (better yet, get your District Con- 

 servationist to put it together), along 

 with whatever pictures you feel are 

 appropriate (and be sure and write 

 some identification on the back) 

 and get it all tn the mall. We'll take it 

 from there In terms of re-writing, if 

 necessary, and layout and display. 

 But now. to get back to Adad and what 



he may or may not have done to swell 

 your financial coffers during this year 

 . . if your district is broke and cannot 

 subscribe the $50 charge (and if you feel 

 your cooperator-businesses can't stand a 

 pro-rated S5-S10charge to help), then we 

 will go along with King Hammurabi and not 

 ask "any return of grain." But we do want 

 the editorial/photographic material- 

 whether you send the check or noil 



The prime reason for the yearbook Is 



to provide an informational service To 

 do that we must have the cooperation of 

 ALL the districts in sending us the mater- 

 ial to include. So . , money or no, SEND 

 IN THE ATTACHED COUPON-FILLED 

 OUT-JUST AS SOON AS YOUR DIS- 

 TRICT HAS ANOTHER MEETING . and 

 please don't check "no" where it asks that 

 you can indicate whether you can supply 

 the needed editorial/photographic ma- 

 terial! 



DISTRICT SUPERVISORS' QUESTIONNAIRE 



(Please Complete as soon as possible and mail to: 

 JEANNE BALUKA. Secretary MACD. c/o 422 Mitchell Bldg.. Helena 59601) 



DISTRICT NAME. 



MAILING ADDRESS . 



(Slreet or P O Box) 



iC.tv) (Zip) 



n Yes, you may expect our check for S50 PRIOR to your 1 July. 1972 deadline 



n No. we're sorry but well be unable to subscribe S50 for publication of MACD's 

 "Yearbook of Activities." 



n Yes, we will provide editorial /photographic material suitable for inclusion m 

 MACD's "Yearbook " and will have the material in the mail PRIOR to the Sep- 

 tember 1. 1972 deadline 



□ No. we will not be able to provide material for MACD's "Yearbook of Activi- 

 ties." 



Should you have questions or need a "contact" individual representing our district, 

 please contact: 



NAME 



MAILING ADDRESS 



(Street/P Box - Citv - Zip Code) 



PHONE 



Montana's young people are concerned 

 about the need to protect the state's tre- 

 mendous natural resources. They are sin- 

 cerely concerned about the misuse of our 

 natural environment. 



Anyone who listened to the young peo- 

 ple at the state speech contest sponsored 

 by the districts and Montana's rural elec- 

 tric cooperatives must have been encour- 

 aged and stimulated by the clear and re- 

 sponsible thinking of the participants. 

 Their dedication, enthusiasm and knowl- 

 edge was impressive, as evidenced by 

 these quotable remarks: 



"In the 28th verse of the first book of 

 our Bible, God told man to be fruitful, mul- 

 tiply and take dominion over the earth. To 

 me this means that man should use but 

 not abuse our land In the last five years we 

 have been swamped with a new breed of 

 environmentalists who maintain that man 

 should not manipulate but should allow 

 nature's system of the checks and balances 

 to prevail in all cases. I believe that man 

 should and must take dominion over the 

 earth and use his best technology in its 

 management." 



"We are astronauts— all of us Our 

 spaceship, the earth, is on an endless trtp 

 around the sun. Our ship has been blessed 

 with life-supporting systems so ingenious 

 that they are self renewing, so massive 

 that they feed, clothe, and shelter mil- 

 lions. For centuries we have considered 

 our blessing, our natural resources, un- 

 limited. Now that we are beginning to eval- 

 uate these resources, the findings are 

 alarming 



"Nearly everyone agrees that we are in- 

 juring these life supporting systems, and 

 unless we stop abusing these ecosystems 

 they will collapse. We must maintain them 

 or pay the penalty; the penalty is death." 



"Our soil is the most precious re- 

 source we have on this earth. Sometimes 

 when we speak of our mineral resources 

 we speak of coal, iron. oil. copper, etc . 

 and more or less disregard the soil We 

 cannot underestimate the importance of 

 soil and we may not take it for granted 

 Without soil there could be no life. 



"With our growing population it is be- 

 coming more and more important to con- 

 serve soil and to keep it fertile We have 

 already come a long way in the manage- 

 ment practices Conservation of our soil 

 is really management- If we are consist- 

 ent with our conservation methods, life 

 on this earth can continue to thrive. Let's 

 all do our share to keep the soil where it 

 belongs It has my concern Does it have 

 yours?" 



The education chairman for the State 

 Association, Yugo Nayematsu. is complet- 

 ing plans for the speech contests to be 

 held again this year m cooperation with the 

 Conservation Districts and the Montana 

 Associated Utilities 



As ladies interested in conservation, let 

 us be alert to the possible ways we can 

 assist in promoting these contests in our 

 own districts We want the supervisors to 

 know that we consider it our obligation to 

 be a part of conservation education 



Conservation education can give to the 

 coming generations the understanding that 

 is necessary to stimulate individual respon- 

 sibility and pride. Certainly, one of the 

 best supplements to class work in school 

 programs to cultivate such interest is a 

 public speaking contest Ladies, let's be 

 on the job— to help build with our youth 

 for a better environment. 



