A NATIONAL LAND USE POLICY? 



Senator Henry Jackson (Washington) is sponsor of S. 3354, a proposal to give the Fed- 

 eral Water Resources Council responsibility for stimulating and coordinating land use 

 planning. The council would be authorized to provide grants to the states for the devel- 

 opment of comprehensive "statewide environmental, agricultural, recreational, and indust-^k 

 rial land use plans," establish "reasonable and flexible federal requirements to give ^^ 

 individual states guidance In the development of statewide land use plans and to condition 

 the distribution of federal funds on the establishment of an adequate statewide land use 

 plan," and carry out other functions. 



Grants would be made to "an appropriate single state agency, designated by the Govern- 

 or of the state, which has statewide land use planning responsibilities. This agency 

 would prepare an inventory of land and related resources and data in the fields of pop- 

 ulation trends, economic projections, urban and rural growth, public works, ecological 

 and environmental conditions, and projected land requirements. 



NACD in a statement to the Senate Interior Committee stressed the need for analysis 

 of land use problems on private lands and reminded the committee of their proposal for 

 the establishment of a Senate Select Committee on Land Resources. 



The present proposal, the statement said, would presumably authorize the council to 

 give consideration. 



land. 



To the protection and future use of the nation's 47 million acres of prime crop- 



- - To the nation's needs for vastly Increased production of wood products on the 300 

 million acres of non-industrtal private forests, and 



- - To the extent and timetable of land reclamation by Irrigation and drainage the 

 protections of wildlife lands; the effects of tax policies on land use; and oncoming 



land requirements for recreation, transportation, and suburban and Industrial development^ 



NACD raised questions about the responsiveness of congress to recommendations of a recon- 

 stituted land and water resources planning council and the lack of machinery for a coordin- 

 ated consideration by congress of proposals cutting across the purview of several congres- 

 sional committees. 



The Senate Interior Committee has issued a second version of the bill, entitled 

 Committee Print No. 2 S. 3354, which gives greater consideration to agriculture and 

 modifies some of the proposals regarding the role of the states. 



This bill deserves the earnest study of district leaders. It can have major effects 

 of district and state soil and water conservation commission programs. 



» » § 



BE FAMILIAR WITH THESE TERMS 



With each passing year, the following terms gain new importance and will be used more 

 often. It Is important that we have an accurate understanding of their meaning. 



Ecology : The study of the interrrelatlonship of organ izlsms to one another and to the 

 environment. This Involves the proper relationships of land, water, air, animals, people, 

 plants, and all forms of life and soils. 



Envi ronment : The sum total of all the external conditions that may act upon an 

 organism or upon a community to Influence its development or existence. 



(This page is sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary, MASWCD) fl 



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