II. Major Concerns 

 Dealt with in the Plan 



After an examination of the CDs' long-range plans 

 published since 1978, it was determined that the first 18 

 concerns identified by the CDs shown in Figure 1 , closely 

 parallel the concerns addressed in the CDs' local long- 

 range plans. Therefore the CDD will be addressing those 

 18 concerns in this section. Each concern is dealt with 



separately, although some are so closely interrelated that 

 the means of resolution may be identical. For every con- 

 cern a brief statement of "Situation" explains the current 

 conditions. A statement called "Concerns" follows. Then 

 the proposed CDD objectives are listed, along with the 

 reason for their selection. 



SOIL EROSION 



Situation 



Soil is being blown and washed from Montana's land 

 at a rate that threatens productivity. Amounts of erosion 

 depend on several factors: soil erodibility, soil cover, 

 amount of soil disturbance, snowmelt conditions, amount 

 and intensity of rainfall, volume of runoff, distance be- 

 tween protected areas, wind speed, direction, and dura- 

 tion. There are areas of natural or geologic erosion that 

 cannot be economically or effectively controlled per- 

 manently. Unprotected croplands are particularly 

 vulnerable to erosion, especially wind erosion. Pasture, 

 hay, range, and forest lands that have a good cover are 

 less susceptible. 



It is estimated that 10 million acres of land in Montana 

 have a high degree of erosion. Of Montana's 15 million 

 acres of cropland, about 2 million acres (13%) are eroding 

 from wind and water at a rate above that considered 

 tolerable, called the "T" value, which varies with different 

 soil types. Of the state's 48 million acres of range, forest, 

 and pasture, 8 million acres (16%) are losing soil from 

 water erosion at a rate above tolerable limits. In compar- 

 ing these soil loss rates, the soil types for pasture, range, 

 and forest land generally have a tolerance limit much less 

 than the soil types for cropland. Another major difference 

 in soil loss from range and forest land is that much of it 

 may be natural geologic erosion which cannot be con- 

 trolled; however, nearly all erosion on cropland is con- 

 trollable by some conservation means (SCS 1977). 



Wind causes most of the erosion on Montana's 

 cropland. In 1980 Montana was ranked as having the se- 

 cond worst wind erosion problem in the nation (SCS 



1980). An average of 417,000 acres yearly are being 

 damaged by wind erosion. Montana's most critical wind 

 erosion occurs in the north-central "triangle" area, and 

 extends easterly across the Highline. Other critical wind 

 erosion areas are in east-central and south-central Mon- 

 tana (SCS 1977). 



Many of the conservation districts have documented 

 soil erosion problems in their district long-range plans. 

 Missoula CD is one such district, which documents its soil 

 erosion problem as follows. Missoula County has 15,387 

 acres of dry cropland; 1,162 acres (16%) are suffering 

 from sheet, rill, and gully (water) erosion. Of the 34,293 

 acres of irrigated cropland, 1,858 acres (5.4%) are being 

 eroded by water. There are 81,720 acres of rangeland in 

 Missoula County and 2,1 18 acres (2.6%) have water ero- 

 sion. Forestland in the county encompasses 1,158,327 

 acres and 5,214 acres (.45%) are affected by sheet, rill, 

 and gully erosion. There is little wind erosion in Missoula 

 County (Missoula Conservation District 1981). Dawson 

 County CD, on the other hand, does have wind erosion 

 problems identified in its long-range plan. Of Dawson 

 county's 391,206 acres of dry cropland, 8,400 acres 

 (2.1%) are being affected by severe wind erosion (Dawson 

 County Conservation District 1980). 



Conflicts in management of the soil resource have 

 resulted in poor use of the land. Oftentimes landowners 

 realize they have soil erosion problems, but not all land- 

 owners nor the public are fully aware of the effects and 

 control of soil erosion. Often soil erosion controls only in- 

 volve a change of management practices. Many solutions 



