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Show program. Approaches have been made by the De- partment of Agriculture, on the one hand, and by the Authority and agricultural colleges on the other, on Soil Conservation Service participation in valley land treatment activities, but thus far such an agree- ment has not been reached. At the same time the Department of Agriculture believes that soil con- servation districts should be promoted more actively in the valley, and is prepared to negotiate agree- ments with, additional new soil conservation districts in the basin. Evaluation of possible land-treatment program.- The Tennessee Valley is on the threshold of a new phase in land treatment activities, the declared policy of the Department of Agriculture being one of encouraging more actively the formation of soil conservation districts within the basin. This pro- gram apparently will be pursued whether or not coordination is achieved with the present general river basin program. At the same time the TVA and the colleges also are commencing a better integrated program than they had in the past, con- centrating on the development of complete land treatment on several small watersheds. Inasmuch as the two programs will be the most important land treatment activities in the basin, and may be operat- ing side by side, some of the benefits claimed by both are listed. For the soil conservation district: (1) It provides a special-purpose local group, the soil conservation district, organized under State law that defines its powers and managed by officials elected by the farmers within the district. (2) It permits professional and technical spe- cialization on a large scale within a national organ- ization, sometimes including basic research, and thereby enabling a concentration of special effort as needed o>n difficult erosion problems. (3) Experience from many widely separated parts of the country can be used in advising on the developmerLt of local programs. (4) It stresses the integrated watershed man- agement approach, making land treatment a special immediate objective of a formal organization. Priority of attention thereby is received for soil conservation and other aspects of watershed management. (5) Poorer, less enterprising farmers as well as prosperous Farmers are given attention. For the TV-A approach: (1) It pr-ovides a simplified State agency chan- nel of contact with farmers so as to avoid con- fusion on program objectives and minimize the time and effort required of participating public employees and farmers. (2) It provides a means for coordination of the water resources program in the valley on a compre- hensive basis, and allows flexibility in regional de- cisions for the basin. (3) Significant local participation in bringing about physical changes on farms is stressed as part of a larger program for gradual development of community initiative, understanding, and respon- sibility. (4) The tributary watershed development pro- gram now being undertaken permits experimenta- tion with the careful integration of land treatment and water control activities on the land and in the streams in a comprehensive river basin development. In addition to these principal programs, other activities of the Department of Agriculture also bear upon land treatment. The operations of the Forest Service, Production and Marketing Administration, Farm Credit Administration, Farmers Home Ad- ministration, and others all influence land use. Be- cause of the importance of the forest lands in the watershed program they deserve attention. Forest land programs in the basin.-Forests no less than crop and pasture lands have an important role in the watershed treatment program. Of the 26 million acres in the valley, more than 14 million acres or 54 percent is in forest. The greatest con- centration is in the Blue Ridge section, the Cum- berland Plateau, and on the western side of the Highland Rim. Elsewhere topography and soil are generally favorable to farming and the forest cover is patchy, though in only six counties of 125 in the basin does the proportion of forest land drop below a fourth. The watershed conditions of the forest lands in the Tennessee Valley have been steadily improving. Fifty years ago, in a message in response to a request from the Congress "to investigate the forest condi- tions in the Southern Appalachian Mountain region of western North Carolina and adjacent States," President Theodore Roosevelt considered these for- est lands to be so damaged as to be a major source of floods and erosion.11 Widespread fire, destruc- tive logging practices, and clearing of mountain slopes for temporary agricultural use were termed the major causes of rapid surface runoff and flash floods, and of erosion and subsequent sedimentation M S. Doc. 84,53d Cong., 2d sess. 756 |