333.-7 -i rea la Slale Library "Tiii'^'ini 1004 5750 vre i\ E Docyf.;z:;Ts cres OFFICIAL NEWS BULLETIN February, 1961 k- ' 1 Your Association President sezs "Fellow Supervisors - Are we at the crossroads with our soil conservation districts? If so., what is our future route? I am addressing this to you super- visors s since you are charged by the people who elected you to act as their leaders in the field of soil and water conservation. It appears to me that we are losing gixiund in many of our district programs., and if you agree^ you will no doubt want to take action to strengthen our various activities o The following issues are of concern to all of uss We are losing ground in our district educational pro- grams » Two years ago we lost the services of a super- visor of education in the State Department of Public Instruction due to lack of fundso Last year we lost the services of an Extension Conservationist because the funds used to employ a conservationist were diverted to other useso We have always relied on the Montana Agricultural Experiment Stations and the Extension Service for advice and assistance to our distidctso Proposed budgets would materially reduce operations in our Experiment Station System and Extension Service. Montana is a large state,, having an area of more than 93 million acres. Agriculture is its greatest source of revenue. The return from this industry alone is about 50$ of all income in the state. Can we as district supervisors sit idly by and per- mit our conservation programs to stand still or to deteriorate? Shall we place greater emphasis on research and educational programs as they effect conservation- our well being - the well being of our future generations? These are questions we must decide. DOINGS IN DISTRICTS JUDITH BASIN DISTRICT gives an interesting summary of its I960 accomplishments in its December news letter. If any supervisor is doubtful regarding his duties, or a well-planned and executed plan, he should obtain a copy of the Judith Basin news letter for December, 1960o STILLWATER DISTRICT has a list of contractors available for conservation work. This list is made available to district cooperate rso GARFIELD DISTRICT in cooperation with the County Superintendent of Schools, County Agent and SCS are planning half-day sessions on conservation for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students throughout the county, BROADWATER DISTRICT has announced that Dr, RoR, Renne, President, Montana State College, will be the featured speaker at their annual meeting. MILE-HI DISTRICT supervisors are proposing that the Board visit cooperate rs' ranches and determine the extent of use made of conservation plans developed for the rancher. Ruby Valley Supervisors developing their Annual Plan of Operations, Have you developed yours? From left to right: Herb Beckers, Carl Johnson, Bill D'Ewart, and Bert Gibson, The last three are from Park District which won the I960 Goodyear Contest. Beckers accepted the second place award for Wibaux District, THE STATE SOIL CONSERyAITON COMMITTEE The Committee welcomed a new member when it met in Helena on January 11th, Edward C, Wren from Cascade, the new State Commissioner of Agriculture, succeeds Albert H, Kruse as a member of the Committee, Ed is a cooperator with his local district, the Cascade County Soil Conservation District and is acquainted with his district's program. Mr, Kruse has been a member of the Committee for nearly 16 years, first as Connnissioner of Agriciilture during Governor Sam C, Ford's tenure and in the last eight years in Governor Aaronson's administration, "Al" as he is genially called • -3- by all his friends has one of the longest tenures as a member of a State Soil Conser- vation Committee in the United States. William D'Ewart of Wilsall has been reappointed by Governor Nutter for a four year term on the Coramitteee At its meeting on January 11th, the Committee re-elected Fred Sanbom of Great Falls as Chairman for 1961 j John Schroeder of Lolo as Vice-chaimanj and Truman Anderson as Executive Secretary for the balance of this fiscal year, which terminates June 30th. The Committee approved the transfer of territory from the Cascade to the Lewis and Clark Soil Conservation District. The territory involved is a small area lying in Lewis and Clark County. The transfer places all of Lewis and Clark County in one dis- trict, while all of Cascade County is now on the same boundary as Cascade County. The Committee also disallowed the transfer of the Three Rivers District to surrounding districts. A petition asking that the District be transferred to Gallatin Valley, Meagher, Broadwater, Jefferson Valley and Madison Districts would have dissolved the Three Rivers District had the petition been approved. The lively hearing recently held by the Committee at Three Forks was evidence that local land occupiers recognize the value of districts and take pride in its membership. Will_.all districts please send copies of their I960 Annual Report and Financial State- ment to State Soil Conservation Committee, North_Barracks, Montana State College" ~ Bozeman. MEN WANTED Water Chemist, Senior Water Engineer, Hydrologist The above ads appeared in a recent issue of "Western Water News", published at San Francisco, California, the ads are submitted by three different Water Districts in California and reflect the acute water situation in that state. How soon will Montana communities find themselves in need of such special facilities? "The world stands aside to let the man pass who knows whither he is going". MONTANA DISTRICTS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO CONSERVATIGN EDUCAHON Montana 's Soil Conservation District Supervisors soon will be receiving brief ques- tionaires concerning the educational work being carried on in each District, This is pai^i of an eight-state educational survey of SCD programs, being carried out and fin- anced entirely by the Conservation Education Association, a national organization.. The survey plans were presented to the MASCD Education Committee at the recent Annual Meeting, and resulted in the presentation and passage of Resolution #6 which urged support and cooperation of each District in carrying out the survey. I In a nutshell, the whole purpose of the Conservation Education Association's offering to do this job is the knowledge that many Districts have had very successful educational programs which other districts ought to know about. The CEA is interested in estab- lishing "Cross-currents" of information which will strengthen the programs of all districts, by letting them know what has worked elsewhere. After all of the Districts in the states of Ohio, Arizona, Texas, Missouri, Indiana, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Montana have been contacted by questionaires, the forms will be tabulated and a suiTiinary report prepared. This report will be sent to all of the Districts in those eight stateso It is hoped that by this means Districts will learn of useful and successful educational programs which have worked well, and which might be adapted for their own public contact programs o In Montana, the CEA member who will be writing to you soon is Dr. Will Clark, of Eastern Montana College in Billings, We urge each District to recognize the poten- tial value of this survey, and to cooperate by completing the questionaire which will be sento MRSo LESLIE CEiyrfELL I wish you could all be with us at the State, Ar«a, and National meetings. You would see the procedure and intensity of interest in the Auxiliary by both men and women. They all have a common interest, that of promoting Soil and Water Conserva- tion. Many women have asked about membership requirements. Any woman interested in the Soil Conservation Program may become a member of the State and National Auxiliary o There are no membership dues in the National Auxiliary, and the State dues are only one dollar a year. The State Auxiliary pays five dollars a year in dues to the Nat'l. The Auxiliary feels that a supervisor- s wife should take an interest and be willing to assume responsibilities in this important work, which would lead her to become a member of the State Auxiliary, One woman may not assume as active a part as an- other, but each one's help is needed at this point of organizational growth. Until we become financially able to carry our part of the program we may be a handicap instead of a help, Mrs, Carl Johnson, Shields Rt., Livingston, Montana.„ is the Secretary- Treasurer of our State Auxiliary. Please send the dues to her, HERE AND THERE Dick Marks, Extension Forester, says box elder trees may open the doors for a new industry. In Lincoln County, New Mexico, "maple syrup" was recently produced from the sap of box elder trees that grow wild up and down the mountain valleys. The Pennsylvania Association of SCD in their news letter "Teamwork" offer the following essentials for a good district meetings (1) Everybody present. (2) Everybody on time, (3) Chainnan in charge at all times and sticks strictly to business, (U) Complete accurate minutes, (5) Everybody participates, (6) Well-organized reports from cooperating agencies, (7) Business transacted efficiently, (P.) Meeting lasts l^- hours, Jas E. Goddard, Chief Local Flood Relations Branch, T.V.A., says? "Man has devised effective ways of controlling floods so as to reduce the heights and frequencies of floods. Man must now apply coordinated effort to controlling himself so as to obtain the maximum benefits from the land and his investments". H.Go Bobst of the SCS in his talk on '•Future Water Demands" at the recent Montana Association oF SCD~"meetings cited the following startling figures on water uses "The per capita consumption was roughly I3OO gallons in 1950 ^ has risen to 1^00 by I960, and is estimated to be 2U00 gallons by 19eOo This amounts to 2000 tons of water per year per person^ while our amoiint per capita use of all other materials, such as foodg fuel, metals, plastics^ lumber^, sando gravel, etc amounts to only 18 tons'*. "Its not the supply that is changing - it's the niimber of people who use it - and the continued growth of per capita demand"* How well are soil conservation distrLct supervisors doing their work in the leader- ship of water conservation? Lower Delta Soil ConservationJDistrict in Louisiana recently distributed an attractive leaflet through all food markets located within the district. The leaflet explained that all foodj clothing and shelter came from the soilj and that muddy waters carried away valuable soils. The leaflet was placed in each customer's grocery bag. FROM MONTANA FAI^JER-STOCKMAN "Good Soil is a LivJ.ng Thing" There is a wise philsopher who^ anonymouslys writes essays for the"Monthly Letter" of the Royal Bank of Canada. In a recent treatise on the "Relationship of Man and Nature", he tells the story of soil in a few simple words i Good soil is a living thing, he writes, and its health is a matter of life and death to plants and animals. What folly it is to call silver, gold and gems "precious" and dirt "base". If there were as great a scarcity of soil as there is of jewels and precious metals <, we should gladly give a heap of diamonds to purchase only so much earth as would hold a small vj.olet in any pot. The soil is constantly changing. In the soil we find one of the oldest laws of life known to uss birth, growth, death, decay and rebirth. Nothing is wasted in nature. Everything nourishes some- thing else until the bacteria finally get hold of it and return it to the soil after breaking it down once more into inorganic conpoimds which plants can again trans- form into protein o The roots of man's physical and mental health spring from the soil. Soil is first of all rock particles, then the organic matter from dead plants and animals, and finally a community of living plant and animal organisms. Roots, insects, worms. and bacteria build fertility into it, while small mammals plow it and let in the air. The soil becomes filled with organic matter containing packaged energy from the sun. The hive of living things existing in and on the soil is vitally important. At Rothamsted in England, the oldest agricultural research station in the world, it has been found that the population of invertebrate fauna per acre of fertilized land is fifteen million, of which eight million are insects. Water is essential to soil development, as it is, indeed, to all living things. Movement is of the essence of water, and the most demand- ing intact of civilized man on his environment is the shattering of this cycle of movement. The break is caused by the destruction of plant cover, removing the sponge- like texture of the complex topsoil - topsoil which, it is estimated, took five hundred years per inch to build. "Yesteniay is dead. Forget it. Tomorrow does not exist. Don't worry, TODAY is here. Use it." Montana Association of Soil Conservation Districts BULK RATE Montana State College (Return Postage Guaranteed) U.S. POSTAGE PAID PEIiMI T #163 Bozeman, Montana 55 i^e^aiiz/oa/cccp^c^: 5 335.7;i .5 5-6 rea: urs' :'ec~e I V E d ' cres OFFICIAL NEWS BULLETIN o^ii*; July, 1961 Your President sez£ Leslie Criswell, President Montana A.S.CoDo Starting July 1 the Soil Conservation Dis- tricts will have the word "water" added to their nameo The State Soil Conservation Coiranittee will not change it's namej pre- ferring to retain its identity and avoid confusion in names » The Area V N„A„S„CoD„ meeting will be held at Fort Robinson near Crawford, Neb- raskaj on August 20-22. Much of the material that comes from our National Association is bom and developed in the Area meetings. The six states making up Area V have similar problems so the sub- jects discussed will be familiar to us and pertinent to our state. A good delega- tion from Montana will help make a success- ful meeting. Let's pool rLdes and take it ■»■*■»■!!•■»■);-•«■ 1961 State Contest in Land and Range Judging^ by Charles M. Smith, Soils Extension On August 2, 1961, there will be state contests in land and range judging in conjunc- tion with the Great Falls Fair for U-H and FoF.Ao youth. It is the purpose of such contests to provide organized competition in these fields of interest. Historically this technique has proved quite profitable in calling certain subject matter areas to the attention of the publico A key member of the group contributing to the success of these contests is the Soil Conservation Service. They have provided invaluable assistance in the way of local instruction and key men in the conduct of the contest. -2" Many of the Soil Conservation Districts have assisted with this worthwhile program in past years o Much of this assistance has been in the form of financial help in trans- porting youngsters to various contests » This has been appreciated by alio Ihe Extension Service has also helped to underwrite certain costSg along with assuming the leadership role. However, because of various problems associated v/ith a reduction in available funds it will be necessary to curtail Extension's support for this activity in the coming year. It has been shown not only in Montana but in other states that these contests have high educational value. We all agree that concern for conservation of our natural resources must be acquired by a greater number of individuals. This is one effective means for bringing the subjects of soil and range to the attention of the public. The continued support of the Districts in promoting these activities is solicitatedo state Soil Conserva tl on Commi 1 1 ee announces the appointment of a new ^ecutijfe^Secretary O.Mo Ueland of Butte became the Executive Secre- tary for the State Soil Conservation Committee on July 1, according to Fred Sanbom, Chaiiman of the Committeeo Mr. Ueland succeeds Truman C. Anderson of Bozeman, who has been the Committee's secretary sin-.e it's organization in 1939. '"Ole"' as Mr, Ueland is generally known^, is well qualified for the job. Since 1952 he served as supeinn.sor in his local soil conservation dis- trict, the Mile High district with headquarters at Butte. He was bom and raised on a diversi- fied ranch in Prairie County. Since World War II he has operated his own cattle ranch in Silver Bow County, Mr, Ueland is a graduate of Montana State Univer- sity. He taught Veterans on-farra Vocational Agriculture for two years, '*01e" and his wife Eleanor are the parents of eight children, in- cluding two sets of twins. The children, like their parents; are taking an active part in ranching and conservation enterprises. "Ole" Ueland, Butte Mr. Ueland ser/ed three years in the Navy and participated in I3 campaigns in the Pacific Area dunng the war. At present he is active in the U.S. Naval Reserve; and in recent years has served as Coirmanding Officer of one of the nation's outstanding Reserve Divisions, His academic training together with his prac- tical experience adinirably qualifies him for his new job. ■«■■«•■»•*■«■■«• -3- I Mro Ueland will be primarily concerned with assisting Soil and Water Conservation Dis- trict Supervisors throughout the state m impi:x)ving their soil and water conservation program and in maintaining contact with the various Federal, State and local conserva- tion agencies assisting districts o Committee Chairman Sanborn also announced that Mro Ueland is headquartered at the School of Mines at Butte and that all correspondence relating to the State Committee should be addressed OoMo Ueland, Executive Secretary., State Soil Conservation Committee, School of Mines, Butte. Mro Sanborn also stated that there are now 59 Soil and Water Conservation Districts in the state covering 90 million acres and that over ^0% of Montana's farmers and ranchers have availed themselves of conservation assistance available through their districto Members of the State Soil Conservation Committee besides Mr,, Sanborn of Great Falls ares John Schroeder,, Lolo, famer mrmberj Carj. Hunter, Fairvlew, farmer member; Wm, Fo D'Ewart, VJilsall, farmer member; Edward Co Wren, Helena, State Commissioner of Agricul- ture; Torlief So Aasheim, Bozemano State Director of Extension; Roy Eo Huffman, Bozeman, Director of Agricultural Experiment Stations ; HoDo Hurd, Bozeman State Conservationist, Soil Conservation Service o ■«■ •«■ i!- ^ -jt «■ Doings in Districts Judith Basin's recently elected supervisor Ed Cervenka recently established a record. He sold 20 - $1^ affiliate memberships and 9 -$10 affiliate memberships, a total of .$390 worth, to the businessmen of the districto Each businessman who buys a .$15 membership is entitled to a heading on the District Newsletter as well as the regular certificate he receives. Philips District supervisors appoint assistant supervisors from various sections of the district to act as advisors and to work on various district committeeso Upper Musselshell District contributed the following verse? Our Treasure State; we'll treasure more By saving stubble not burning it o'er. Having v;aterways control water , Save out soil for Son and Daughter. We build a bam to store the fodder ,^ ^ ' So make a dam and save the water. Good top soil eroded away. A starving world, another day. The wind may blow soil that is fine But I'm not worried, I've contoured mine. No trees 6 A disaster j Wind Erosion » Much faster* Muddy water holes bring you strife; Clear blue ponds call wildlife. Too many cattle on too little grass Like too many miles and too little gas. Do your duty to the nation Save your soil by conservation. Missoula District supervisors in their annual repoil. for I960 state last season was the driest in the history of the district, but that many conservation measures proved their worth as the growing season advanced. Madison District supervisors., anticipating that logging operations may soon begin on private timber lands ^ are urging owners of marketable timber to become acquainted vri. th various harvesting and management phases so that they may most intelligently market their products « this warning is timely and applies to all timber owners. Treasure District has started a project to produce EtLrdsfoot Trefoil seed. It is still too early to predict the outcome but should it prove successful it may be a valuable enterprise for district cooperators as well as surrounding districtso Little Beaver District supervisors says "Education and information is a most important phase of the District progranio Effective conservation application and understanding by the people of the area cannot be accompolished imtil everyone understands the need for, the objectives of <, and the ways m which a soil conservation district operates and the goals they intend to reach". Only six (6) districts entered the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company ^s Soil Conservation Awards Program last year. All districts should have material on the program that ends April 30, 1962. If any district does not have detailed information write the above company at Akron I61, Ohioy and ask to have your district enrolled. Some district will be awarded a week's vacation to Goodyear Farms, Litchfield, Arizona, for one of it-5 supervisors and the outstanding conservation farmer in the district next December. Richland County District moved over three-quarters of a million cubic yards of earth in completing its I960 soil and water conservation program. This is enough earth to cover Ih city blocks to a depth of thirty feet. The Richland District Board in their March Newsletter gave the following definition of a pessimists "A man who doubts what he sees, sees what he doubts, always laughs first- can never laugh last". Judging from the conservation accompolishments in the distract there ar^ np pessimists in ftLchland '^ounty. The Roosevelt County District developed I3 water spreading systems in I960. Ihese pro- vide flood waters for 1,187 acres. The District also assisted cooperators in planting 155,000 trees. Montana Assn„ of SoiT *^onsi Distr^ Montana State College ^ ,♦ (Return Postage Guara.nteea) Tle^zzi 2/c^a/c C(^(^: BULK RATE U.S. Postage Paid Pemit #163 Bozeman, Montana