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LAND USE planning, in all its 

 aspects, was the subject of a 

 series of seminars, sponsored 

 by tfie Montana League of Cities 

 and Towns, Office of State Ex- 

 aminer and Department of 

 Planning and Economic De- 

 velopment, held in Missoula, 

 Kalispell Miles City, Wolf Point. 

 Havre, Bozeman and Laurel. 

 Shown at right are Byron 

 Roberts and Jim Richard, PED 

 associate planners, during the 

 Havre presentation. 



By 



Robert 



iderson 



"Awareness Leads to Action" has been 

 chosen as the theme of this year's convention 

 a most apt choice and a theme with par- 

 ticular relevance m the proceedings of our 31st 

 Annual Convention. 



We've got some most important business to 

 take care of .. . vital to the future and growth 

 of the Montana Association of Conservation 

 Districts And knowing the solid, grassroots 

 makeup of MACD's membership I know that 

 awareness of our priority needs WILL lead to 

 positive and progressive action- 

 Certainty one of the key items on the agenda 

 is a recommended change m our dues struc- 

 ture, keyed to a percentage of our individual 

 county taxable valuation. We've been working 

 on this approach for a long time in an effort 

 to establish a more realistic and workable 

 budget for your state association. Hopefully, 

 you will agree that your board of directors 

 has come up with an equitable solution to pro- 

 viding adequate financing for the almost in- 

 numerable priorities facing the state asso- 

 ciation 



We 've become a vital force in conservation 

 in Montana in the last few years and. un- 

 fortunately, for fortunately, depending on your 

 outlook), this new leadership role imposes a 

 financial responsibility upon us all to be able 

 to stay abreast and ahead of the increasing 

 demands on the expertise of Montana 's pioneer 

 conservationists and environmentalists. 



Action is the name of the game for us. and 

 we must deliver. For 1972-73. the action will 

 start at Miles City. Nov 12-14 Your presence 

 and participation can truly make it a most 

 significant "happening, "and I'm looking for- 

 ward to a record turnouti 



Several key long-term 

 NACD objectives have 

 become reality with the 

 passage and signing of 

 the Rural Development 

 Act of 1972. The new law, 

 which contains a host of pro- 

 visions for revitalizing America's 

 countryside, sets forth a ser- 

 ies of new authorities for the 

 Soil Conservation Service that 

 will enable conservation dis- 

 tricts to move forward more 

 effectively with their resource 



program, according to John 

 Wilder, NACD president. 



These include: 



— Federal cost-sharing for 

 water quality management and 

 authority for agricultural pollu- 

 tion control and solid waste 

 disposal in PL. 566 watershed 

 projects and Resource Conser- 

 vation and Development Proj- 

 ects. 



—Authorization of the use 

 of long-term contracts for 

 land treatment in watershed 



SEEK Project 



(Continued fronn Page 1 ) 



Cash prizes and awards were 

 presented to the winners of a 

 grade school conservation pos- 

 ter contest by the Liberty Coun- 

 ty Conservation District Eighty- 

 four posters were entered in 

 the contest 



"Thus, those of us with 

 an interest in action-educa- 

 tion for conservation and 

 environment can be excused 

 if we look on programs for 

 further curriculum de- 

 velopment with a somewhat 

 jaundiced eye — as a 

 repetitive and unproductive 

 exercise which can, at 

 best, but delay the start 

 of a broadly based en- 

 vironmental education in 

 Montana's school system. 

 The approved efforts in 

 this area, as determined 

 by the Office of En- 

 vironmental Education for 

 this fiscal year, must 

 necessairly be so frag- 

 mented and isolated in 

 instance as to have 

 virtually no statewide Impact 

 or application! 



". . . (MACD) would suggest 

 that the Office of 

 Environmental Education has 

 critical need of more 

 than lip service to the 

 objectives and goals of the 

 program they espouse Almost 

 without exception the 

 funding of projects during 

 the past two years has 

 been by block grant to 

 areas, and the area rather 

 than the proposal's worth 

 seems to have been the 

 overwhelming criteria. 

 We cannot but protest this 

 approach as most unfair 

 and a definite deterrent 

 to the development of 

 program(s) objectively 

 designed to upgrade the 

 quality and effectiveness 

 of environmental education. 



r\ 



BIG SANDY Conservation 

 District reaffirmed its concern 

 over the SEEK Project in a 

 recent Board resolution: "Be 

 it resolved that the BSCD go 

 on record as deploring HEW's 

 rejection of MACD's SEEK 

 Project; Further, BSCD strongly 

 unges officers of MACD and 

 Montana's State Superintendent 

 of Public Instruction to re- 

 submit this project and con- 

 tinue to seek its approval. 



NEW PRESIDENT of the 

 Soil Conservation Society 

 of America is A. B. Linford, 

 Montana Conservationist. 

 The election of Linford was 

 announced at the 27th an- 

 nual meeting of the profes- 

 sional society of soil and 



water conservationists held 

 in Portland, Ore. 



ALMOST 100 Beaverhead 

 County ranchers, businessmen 

 and their wives attended a 

 one-day Range Tour sponsored 

 by the Beaverhead Conserva- 

 tion District and the South- 

 western Montana Stockmen's 

 Association. The tour was 

 held on the Donovan Ranch. 



WILLIAM PARNELL. Blaine 

 County Conservation District 

 supervisor, has been named as 

 ASCS advisory county commit- 

 teeman with the responsi- 

 bility of "encouraging more 

 involvement by minority farm- 

 ers in the actual operations of 

 the ASCS program. " 



FRED MARTIN, editor of the 

 Livingston Enterprise and Park 

 County News, has been pre- 

 sented with a distinguished ser- 

 vice award by the Park County 

 Conservation District. Board 

 supervisors for 1972 include 

 Marvin Swandal, chairman; 

 Bruce Malcolm, vice chairman; 

 Ray Keefer, John Ragsdale and 

 Carl Johnson, members, and 

 Judy Rafdal, secretary-treas- 

 urer. 



ALMOST 1,000 Flathead 

 County eighth graders took a 

 first-hand look at conservation 

 during a tour sponsored by 

 seven agencies including the 

 Flathead County Conservation 

 District. The program dates 

 back to 1 950. 



areas. This is an extension of 

 the principle established in 

 the Great Plains Conservation 

 Program whereby landowners 

 are enabled to receive tech- 

 nical and financial assistance 

 over a 10-year period to ensure 

 orderly and complete installa- 

 tion of needed conservation 

 measures. 



--Approval of the use 

 of federal funds available 

 under otfier government 

 programs to secure land 

 rigfits in waterstied pro- 

 grams. Tfiis will aid in ex- 

 panding multiple use of 

 reservoir sites. 



— Provisions for sharing up 

 to 50 per cent of the cost of 

 water storage in watershed 

 projects for municipal and in- 

 dustrial purposes. 



— Other authorities for rural 

 community water supply and 

 fire protection in RC&D Proj- 

 ects and a periodic land re- 

 source inventory and moni- 

 toring program . 



A potentially highly signifi- 

 cant amendment which was 

 added to the legislation during 

 its passage through Congress 

 authorizes a nationwide pro- 

 gram of long-term Rural En- 

 vironmental Protection con- 

 tracts, a central objective of 

 NACD policy for many years. 



( ) 



In general, resource pro- 

 grams got a boost from Con- 

 gress who approved appropri- 

 ations for USDA for the current 

 fiscal year. NACD forecasts 

 indicate districts should fare 

 better than last year; funds for 

 major SCS programs were in- 

 creased; there will be more 

 money for REAP cost-sharing; 

 additionally there were some 

 gains tor research. 



One important step was to 

 reappropriate money in the 

 1972 budget, approved but 

 frozen by the 0MB. This action 

 affects research at Miles City 

 and Sidney. 



In addition. Congress in- 

 creased by $40,000 the funds 

 for research on saline seepage 

 at the Northern Plains Soil 

 and Water Research Center, 

 Sidney (Editor's note: Thanks 

 largely to Montana's Congres- 

 sional delegation and the 

 efforts by officers and mem- 

 bers of MACD.) 



