| OCR Text |
Show PART II NATURE, USE AND MANAGEMENT OF WATERSHED LAND Most of the water production is from Federal land, particularly from national forest land. With the development and disposition of other lands to private ownership for municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses, water production from Federal land took on new significance in watershed management programs. The water producing areas must be managed to meet state water quality standards. The necessity for corrective watershed treatment of public land has long been recognized, but due to limited funding, only a small portion of the problem areas have been treated. A total of 25,300 acres of land subject to sheet erosion have been stabilized and 88 miles of gullies have been controlled. In addition, 527,300 acres have been treated for brush and weed control; 65,200 acres have been treated with watershed tillage practices such as contouring; and 506,100 acres have been seeded to various grass and browse species to stabilize soils and to increase grazing productivity. Various other practices have also been installed to reduce sedimentation and improve the hydrologic function of public wild lands. These practices are summarized in Table 1 on the following page. State land Watershed management objectives of state land are the same as for private land. The management is carried out by the leasees. State lands are intermingled among Federal and private ownerships. The trend has been towards consolidation of these holdings generally by trades. These larger holdings provide a greater opportunity for watershed management. Overall, the state land acreage has gradually declined as a result of sales. Other public land County and municipal ownership of land is minor. Parks, playgrounds, small recreation areas, municipal water systems, sewage treatment plants, dump areas, and road and street areas are typical of the ownerships. Trends have been for more intensive management and regulation to comply with needs. Private land In the region about 14,350,000 acres are under private, county, and municipal ownership of which over 99 percent is in private ownership. An additional 10,700,000 acres are Indian Trust lands. Recognition of treatment needs of watershed lands was demonstrated in 1938 by the organization under State laws of locally governed and operated soil conservation districts. Forty-four such districts now receive assistance for land and water treatment measures through technical 15 |
