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Show SCS Land-Use Plans r Albuquerque, N. M., June 15 y At least 6,602 farmsrs and -ranch ers operating 13,515,098 acres in ; the Sou h-west Region hava com- c plete soil conservation! plans to serve as a guide in combating . erosion and increasing agricul- tuiial production for ithe nation's i war .needs, James G. Lindley, acting regional conservator of .he Soil Conservation Service, tat' d today. Although much of the erosion'-co.-.i.rol work is now carried on in soil conservatiani districts, it is by no mean;, limited to -districts,. Lindley declared. Any fanmiEr or rancher ou. sidle es-abliehed es-abliehed d-istxic s may request u.c:nical ass.stae.ee from the Soil o.'.'s.rvaaon Sir vice by apply- ! -o . at. or co-my .Aiar ooards. 1U personnel and equipment are available, tb: Soil Con&er-via- ion Service '.".d- out farm exieerts iO maki a map of tine farm or ranch, to indicate hew each--(pi ce -cu la-e.d may be used moe. prodieictiv'-ly wi.hout eros ion damage and to sugg-St means of protecting the land froiml soil losses. "Soil co'r.iservaticn does not mea-ev restricted use of land," Lindley explained. "Ini.t-ad, tha aim of SCS -and of the cooperating cooper-ating (Farmer or rancher is to make each acre produce as much as po.eible without incurring eerious soil losses." On- farms having -sloping fields, shall; I w i .oils, poor drainage or other drawbacks, 'th-ese land-iuse plans are especially useful, he stated. Aided by surveyors and agricul .ural engineers, the farmer farm-er can install terraces cultivate on ihe contour and use s. rip-cropping rip-cropping to hold soil and -moisture for the production of crops. Armed iwithi detailed charts lof good land use, the farmer knowis which field should be left in pasjure for livestock feed and which field is most capable of yielding a good harvest of soil-depleting soil-depleting crops. The rancher is helped in such problems as -water development, rotation of livestock from one pasture to another, and control of 'gullies. Since the war demands immediate imme-diate action in critical production produc-tion aneas, the Soil Conservation Service has established a 'system of priorities whereby lands- most subject to erosion damage are giveni first consideration. Fanm and ranch plans in these areas are being prepared with all possible pos-sible speed. Total acreage of land-use plans, by states, is as followrs: New 'Meixco, 2,193 agreeimlenits covering 6,916,555 acres; Arizona, Ari-zona, 617 agreements covering 1,709,810 acres; Colorado, 2,405 agreements covering 4,091,072 acres; and Utah', 1,487 agreements agree-ments covering 797,661 acres. |
