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Show 367 1935.89 In reporting the bill which became the Act, the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry asserted that:90 Experiences of recent storms, both flood and wind, demonstrate the necessity to prevent wastage of soil, the conservation of water, and the control of floods. The silting of reservoirs, the maintaining of the naviga- bility of rivers and harbors, the protection of public lands, all justify Federal responsibility for the carrying out of a national erosion-control program. The 1935 Act declares that:91 it is hereby recognized that the wastage of soil and moisture resources on farm, grazing, and forest lands of the Nation, resulting from soil erosion, is a menace to the national welfare and that it is declared to be the policy of Congress to provide permanently for the con- trol and prevention of soil erosion and thereby to pre- serve natural resources, control floods, prevent impair- ment of reservoirs, and maintain the navigability of rivers and harbors, protect public health, public lands and relieve unemployment * * *. The Act directed the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the Soil Conservation Service to exercise the powers which Congress conferred upon him.92 These include the conducting of surveys, investigations, and research; the carrying out of preventive measures; the furnishing of financial and other as- sistance to individuals and governmental and other agencies; 89 Act of April 27,1935, § 1, 49 Stat. 163, as amended, 16 U. S. C. 590a-590f. Congress had already recognized the national character of the soil-erosion problem. The 1930 annual appropriation act for the Department of Agri- culture appropriated $160,000 for research and experimental work con- cerning soil erosion in the "important" agricultural areas of the country. Act of February 16,1929,45 Stat. 1189,1207. 90 Sen. Rep. No. 466, 74th Cong., 1st sess., p. 2 (1935). See also H. Rep. No. 528, 74th Cong., 1st sess., pp. 1-2 (1935). " § 1,49 Stat. 163,16 U. S. C. 590a. 88 § 5, 49 Stat. 164, 16 U. S. C. 590e. See also Secretary of Agriculture Memorandum No. 673, April 27, 1935, establishing the Soil Conservation Service. 911611-51------25 |