OCR Text |
Show land treatment and management. The kinds and combinations of control measures needed vary from one conservation problem area to another. Land treatment and land use programs for the level areas of the northwest portion of the basin should be directed toward disposal of surplus water at nonerosive velocities and encouragement of crop rotations which will increase the acreage of crop- land devoted to soil-conserving and soil-building crops. About 20 percent of the total cropland is devoted to uses which conserve the soil. For proper land use, rotations with 30 to 40 percent of the land devoted to such uses are needed. In the hilly and upland areas, land treatment measures should be directed toward adjusting uses to the capabilities of the land. A substantial shift from cropland to pasture and forests is needed. Improved rotations, green manure and cover crops, terraces, contour strip cropping, and sod waterways are measures that are needed on most cropland in these upland areas to permit continued produc- tion of cultivated crops. Pasture improvement re- quires the use of fertilizers, the planting of improved varieties of grasses and legumes, proper manage- ment, and construction of erosion control structures such as dams and diversion terraces to maintain eco- nomic production levels and to arrest erosion. Im- provements such as fences and livestock watering facilities to permit better distribution and rotation grazing plans are needed. Farm ponds, the most common livestock watering facilities, are becoming increasingly important as a source of farm water supply, for erosion control, for floodwater storage, and for their recreation value. Conservation practices needed in the rough and hilly watershed areas include: measures to improve and rehabilitate forests and pastures; tree planting or pasture seeding on denuded areas; and protection against fire, insects, and disease; and prevention of excessive grazing in forest areas. Present Programs Programs administered by the Department of Agriculture have made progress in promoting and encouraging the use of certain soil and water con- servation measures. These and rehabilitation of forest lands are directed toward correcting soil ero- sion, flash flood runoff, and sedimentation problems. Services and assistance offered to encourage con- servation and improvement of these lands include technical assistance, conservation payments, fire control and forest protection programs, educational services, farm credit, and rural electrification. Multiple-purpose management and use programs are carried out on federally owned lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture. Most of the lands in this category include national forests and land utilization projects. Fire protec- tion, timber production and management, refor- estation, controlled grazing, improved recreation facilities, and enhancement of fish and wildlife hab- itat are phases of the multiple-purpose management and use programs. Where conflicts in use exist, these lands are managed for the use considered most essential in the public interest. In the Ohio Basin watershed, protection to regulate and control run- off and stream flow is considered one of the major beneficial uses of forest lands. This is especially true for the heavy water-yielding, rough areas with thin erodible soils that produce low-quality timber. Several administrative units carry out the various types of service referred to above. There are 268 locally administered soil conservation districts or- ganized under State laws, and more than 627,000 farms within these organized districts. Conserva- tion plans have been completed for 69,000 farms and approximately 9.2 million acres of farm land. Conservation treatment has been completed for about 4,780,000 acres of land. County Production and Marketing Administra- tion committees have been organized in 357 coun- ties in the basin. This program is available to all farmers to help them carry out approved soil and water conservation measures needed on their farms. Financial assistance given to farmers in the basin under this program averages about 26 million dol- lars annually. As a result of this program, approxi- mately 50 percent of the pasture areas have been improved. About 19 percent of phosphate and green manure and cover crops, 13 percent of potash, 12 percent of drainage, 8 percent of the farm ponds, 7 percent of permanent cover and lime, and less than 1 percent of tree planting, sod waterways, tim- ber stand improvement, and contour strip crop- ping needs have been met. These figures are based upon needs estimated by local people and State and Federal agencies, compared with the measures for which conservation assistance has been given under the Agricultural Conservation Program. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized3 to cooperate with State forestry organizations to pro- vide technical assistance to private woodland • Act of August 25, 1950, § 1, 64 Stat. 473. 644 |