OCR Text |
Show A related problem is the relationship between watershed management programs and the prob- lems of the Interior, Agriculture, and other De- partments which impinge on watershed man- agement. One of these is the investment of large sums in conservation practices, while spending other large sums on crop payments or the pur- chase of farm surpluses. Also, the Agricultural Act of 1949, which pro- vides for price supports for certain commodities, does not assure proper land use in the interest of conservation. That is, the price-support pro- gram may encourage the growing of certain crops under conditions incompatible with soil conserva- tion practices. The Commission is convinced that immediate steps should be taken to reconcile these related policies with each other, so as to provide for the acceleration of soil conservation throughout the Nation, and to achieve more rapidly the objec- tives of watershed management. The emphasis of farm policy should, in the opinion of the Com- mission, be on protecting the land against fur- ther deterioration, improving its productivity, in- creasing the volume of those farm crops which are in demand and which provide for the most satis- factory land use, and maintaining farm income at an adequate level. There are areas which would not provide any return for investment in watershed management because they are eroded beyond any practical possibility of reclamation. Such areas exist in the West, wliere precipitation is too small to sup- port vegetation, and where the infrequent storms are violent. The resulting erosion is very rapid. A general cliange in climate, increasing precipi- tation, however, would be needed to make the planting of ^vegetal cover feasible. The humid East also contains areas so seriously eroded that they could not conceivably return an income to the owner who invested labor and ma- terials in erosion control practices. Leaving them untreated, on the other hand, might result in the continuing spread of erosion to more and more land, with a continuing decline of the basic soil and water resources. Planting them to trees or grass, while expensive, would eventually result in improving the productivity of even the worst lands, because precipitation is heavy enough in the region to support the vegetation, once it is established. In these cases, public investment of the large sums needed is thoroughly justified, both to save adjoining lands and to restore the productivity of the eroded lands themselves. The Federal Gov- ernment has the financial resources necessary, as well as the ability to wait until the investment pays off. Between the areas where soil conservation is a matter of course, and the areas where erosion control is a public problem, there lies a fairly broad field where research is needed to discover more practical methods of conservation and more effective devices for obtaining the cooperation of the land owner in instituting them. Part of the problem is one of devising new, cheaper physical methods. A large part of it, however, is the development of new social tech- niques to counteract the economic difficulties in establishing conservation. An example of the kind of social engineering which is effectively dealing with these problems is found in the work of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. For years the bank has carried on a program of investigation, research, and educa- tion to demonstrate the profitability of soil con- servation through improved farm practices. The bank started with a determination to pro- vide leadership in the solution of some of the fun- damental economic and social problems of its dis- trict. Its work also helped meet the difficulty of finding reasonably safe, profitable loans for mem- ber banks in a situation where communities were run-down and poverty-stricken as a result of ero- sion. The farmers lacked the capital to make needed improvements, and each year the produc- tivity of their farms declined. The bank developed a system of loans to be made by local banks for modernization and land improvement. These loans would be secured by the farm itself, rather than by any specific aspect of it. New barns needed for a shift to livestock production, new equipment, fertilizer, and other improvements required for conservation fanning were scheduled in accordance with the physical need for their use and payments adjusted to the 133 |