Effective programs for con- 

 servation were of key 

 concern to those in 

 attendance at the 31 st 

 Annual Convention of the 

 Montana Association of Conser- 

 vation Districts . . . and the 

 consensus was that the chal- 

 lenges ahead for the remainder 

 of the decade were "formid- 

 able." 



Keyed to the theme, "Aware- 

 ness Leads to Action," a panel 



including Gary Wicks, director 

 of the Montana Department of 

 Natural Resources and Conser- 

 vation, Rep. James Lucas and 

 Robert Lyman, president of the 

 Montana Wildlife Federation, 

 stressed the need for a proper 

 land use policy which should 

 address itself to: 



1 ) Quality of environment, 



2) Proper land use, 



3) Saving prime agricultural 

 land, and 



4) Inventory of lands capa- 

 bilities and potentials to 

 insure wise land use 

 decisions. 

 Additionally, Wicks cited the 

 need to strengthen Montana's 

 water laws to guarantee water 

 rights as called for in the new 

 constitution and to provide a 

 more efficient means for record 

 keeping, administration and 

 appropriation of water for a 



(Continued on Page 4) 



Vol. XXIV, No. IV 



Sept./Oct./Nov.. 1972 



YOUTH TOOK over the entertainment 

 responsibilities for MACD convention 

 delegates during their luncheon and 

 banquet programs and. as the pictures 

 here would indicate, they "had a ball." 

 Above, a youthful guitarist-singer 

 delivers a sparkling number and. 

 below, a future Frank Sinatra "sends" a 

 group of young admirers. Youth was 

 also impressively present in the annual 

 MACD/MAU speech contest finals, 

 with the winners pictured elsewhere 

 on this page. 



Needed land use policy 

 for Montana, long a key 

 legislative goal of MACD, 

 drew strong support 

 from Gov. Tom Judge in 

 his State of the State address 

 before the Legislature early in 

 January. 



Calling for a start of a "new 

 land ethic," Judge said: 



"Degradation and depletion of 

 our land resources are occurring 

 continually because of unguided 

 urban and rural sprawl, im- 

 proper selection of residential 

 and industrial sites, wasteful 

 use of farm, range and forest 

 lands and other unplanned 

 developments. 



"... I urge your favorable 



consideration of the Interim 

 Montana Land Use Regulation 

 Act proposed by the Department 

 of Inter-governmental Relations. 



". . . We must also have the 

 authority to prevent subdivision 

 developments from scattering 

 across lands that would be 

 better suited for agriculture 

 and recreation purposes. 



"... I (also) advocate passage 

 of legislation to establish the 

 rights of Montanans in regard 

 to our water resources." 



Similar objectives have been 

 voiced by MACD for several 

 years, and were reinforced by 

 convention-approved resolution 

 action by both the 30th and 31 st 

 Annual Conventions. 



Despite an expressed keen 

 concern over the need for 

 an ever-expanded commu- 

 nications and information 

 program, presently avail- 

 able finances make it impossible 

 to continue TREASURE ACRES 

 in its present printed format, 

 MACD convention delegates 

 have decided. 



Thus, barring a "financial 

 miracle," this will be the last 

 issue of the "new" TREASURE 

 ACRES, started experimentally 

 a year ago both to increase 

 the readability of the publication 

 to the general public and to 

 support MACD's request for 

 federal funding for a joint 

 MACD/Montana Office of 

 Superintendent of Public 

 Schools conservation informa- 

 tion and education program. 



In doubt at this time is the 

 future of MACD's re-application 

 for federal funding of its Search 

 for Effective Environmental 

 Knowledge (SEEK) Project. 

 Although funding for re-submis- 

 sion of the application was 

 approved by MACD convention 

 delegates, the concept as 

 developed in the 1 972 applica- 

 tion was dependent upon an 

 expanded format similar to that 

 utilized in the printed TREAS- 

 URE ACRES. 



Abandonment of the present 

 TREASURE ACRES format and 

 concept may well force the 

 SEEK Project into "retirement," 

 according to A. G. (Slim) Slat- 

 tery, Hardin, newly named presi- 

 dent of MACD. "It could well 

 be that a final decision may have 

 to be delayed until we can de- 

 termine the response of the 

 state's conservation districts to 

 the new dues schedule," Slattery 

 said. 



"At any rate, at present, we 

 are firmly impaled on the horns 

 of the proverbial dilemma — 

 a situation we hope to resolve 

 in the near future. It would be of 

 tremendous assistance to 

 MACD's board of directors to 

 receive immediate advice and 

 suggestions from the boards of 

 supervisors as to what course 

 we should pursue," Slattery 

 concluded. 



mCDIMAU 



Speech Contest 



Winners 



Holly Forrester 



EWcfe Eriekson 



Inez Morrison 



