"NACD CONVENTION" 



The NACD Convention In Atlanta, Georgia was a good 

 convention. The attendance was close to two thousand. 

 Those of us who cane from Montana enjoyed the 87° degree 

 temperature change even though we had several days of 

 rain. 



A number of good resolutions were passed by the group. 

 Some which concern Montana are: 



1. Water Bank - Introduced by North Dakota fpr federal 

 payments on land which would be under water on farms. 

 There wouldn't be so many small areas drained for farming. 



2. Water Supply Forecast - A change from manual opera- 

 tion to telemetry is needed however, to permit collection 

 of basic snow data on a more frequent time basis and 

 from more remote areas inaccessible in winter. Appropri- 

 ate funds are needed to modernize the data collection 

 network of the Soil Conservation Service. 



OSCAR B. HIPPE 

 MONTANA NACD COUNCILMAN 



3. Public Law 566 should be amended by changing the 

 limitation on plans that can be administratively approved; 

 1) From $250,000 to $A00,000; and 2) from 2,500 acre feet 

 to A, 000 acre feet. 



4. Weed Control - There should be Increased research in noxious weed control; allocation of 

 adequate funds to agencies and institutions carrying on weed control research; Increased 

 attention by all agencies administrating public lands to the use of noxious weed control 

 measures on lands under their jurisdiction. 



5. Great Plains Program - Requested to extend the Great Plains Program for another ten years 

 with a $100,000,000 appropriation; and a wider use of the Great Plains concept. Also, to 

 urge Congress to appropriate $18,000,000 for the Great Plains Conservation Program for 1970 

 instead of the $14,000,000 proposed in the budget estimate. The Great Plains Program is 

 operating at an $18,000,000 level in 1969 and should be continued at the same level in 1970. 



6. The NACD will urge Congress to amend Public Law 566 so as to provide authority for the 

 federal government to share with project sponsors the cost of providing municipal and indus- 

 trial water storage and storage for water quality improvement in watershed projects. 



7. The NACD will urge Congress to provide an ACP authorization for fiscal year 1970 of at 

 least $220,000,000 exclusive of administrative costs, in order to continue this vital ele- 

 ment of the nation's conservation program at the constructive level of recent years. 



8. The NACD will urge Congress to appropriate $19,000,000 to publish the backlog of unpub- 

 lished soil surveys and provide adequate appropriations to keep soil survey publications 

 current. 



Carl H. Johnson, President: Sez, Conclnaed 



Education Coomlttee Chalnsan, Prank Thompson, his wife Faye, and son Ken, Richland District 

 Chalman Leo Hackley, Too Wharram of Chouteau County SWCD, Mr. & Mrs. A. B. Llnford, State 

 Conservationist, and myself. Many Issues were discussed, but probably the most significant 

 Haa any and all things pertaining to water. We In Montana are well aware of our problems In 

 connection with beneficial use of water. 



It was the feeling of the group In attendance at Atlanta that with the passage of our 

 legislation this year we will be well up with or perhaps a little bit ahead of NACD's Dis- 

 trict Outlook plan. Many supervisors and key people from other states approached us and 

 asked for Information on our legislative proposals. May I say again that Montana's Soil 

 and Water Conservation Supervisors can well be proud of the job they are doing. 



One of the features of HB 179 was the creating of Special Project Areas. I would like 

 to suggest to all Districts to incorporate into their Annual Work Plan, a study of their area 

 to see if creation of a special project might be possible in their District. Perhaps a 

 meeting of all cooperators In a District to discuss this possibility might be In order. Now 

 that the tools are In our hands, it is up to us as Supervisors to show results. 



CARL JOHNSON 



