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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1970)
Tbunu January 29. 1970 rpk o Heppner Soil and Water Conservation District 26th Year TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1970 7:30 P.M. LEXINGTON GRANGE HALL 1. Opening Meeting 2. Business Meeting . 3. Election of Two Supervisors 4. Introduction of Guests 5. Film "The Great Difference" 6. Review of Soil Surveys in Morrow County TALK: RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN MORROW COUNTY By Amos L. Oleson, State Resource Conservationist, Soil Conservation Service REFRESHMENTS Compliments of Heppner Soil and Water Conservation District District Objectives for 1970 1. Update district Program and Objectives. 2. Assist with planning on Rock Creek Watershed. 3. Continue emphasis on soil surveys. 4. Complete Lake Penland Project. 5. Encourage observance of Soil Stewardship Week, o. Participate in state OACD annual meeting. 7. Assist In formulation of committees for North Morrow irriga tion project 8. Meet jointly with Port of Morrow and Boardman S&WCD on development of North Morrow County. 9. Encourage more wildlife developments. 10. Participate in organization of Oregon Administrative District No. 12. 11. Continue emphasis on conservation education, Including grade school tours. 12. Give assistance to Columbia-Blue Mountain RC&D. 13. Enter Goodyear Conservation Award Contest. 14. Be aware of other developments, either agricultural or indus trial, as it affects conservation developments. District Annual Report Number New Cooperators 23 Services to Individuals 675 Detailed Soil Survey Conservation Plans 8 Units of Government Assisted 15 Services to Groups 43 Brush Control - Chiseling & Subsoiling Conservation Cropping System Contour Farming Crop Residue Management -. Debris Basins 6 Deferred Crazing Diversion - Ponds 2 Irrigation Field Ditch Grassed Waterway or Outlet Irrigation Pipeline Land Leveling - Land Smoothing Drainage Main or Lateral - Pasture A Hayland Management rasture A Hayland Planting Pipeline - - Proper Grazing Use Range Seeding Range Rotation Deferred Crazing Spring Development 3 Stream Channel Improvement - Drainage Field Ditch ! ! GEORGE GREEN of SCS explains detailed soil maps of Morrow County to Heppner district supervisors. Detailed Soil Map of County Completed For Nearly 60,000 Acres By DALE W. BONER Soil Conservation Service Heppner. Oregon Irrlgon, Hermiston, Pilot Rock, Stanfield and Condon. Names of towns? Not in this case. These are names that soil scientists are using to identify the soils In Morrow County. Soils are mapped and group ed according to a nationwide system. These groupings are given names, such as a town or other geographic feature near the place where the soil was first mapped. Ritzville, Quincy. Warden and Winchester are oth er names used in the county. Soil scientists travel over the land augering many holes and digging pits to look at the soil. As they go along they look at the slope of the land, the kinds of vegetation and kinds of rock. This Information is recorded on aerial photographs and the soil given a name. A detailed soil survey was started in Morrow County In 1969. The survey is being made by the Soil Conservation Serv ice at the request of the Hepp ner Soil and Water Conservation District. The Port of Morrow and Morrow County also encouraged the study. Morrow County is pro viding financial assistance for the, soil survey. 'Before any large develop ment is started we need to know what soils we have," says Ken Turner, district supervisor and farmer. Getting water from the Columbia River has created much interest in knowing what soils can and cannot be irrigat ed. Possible disposal and stor age of warm water from nu clear plants has made this a more feasible irrigation project. The survey team, headed by George L. Green of The Dalles, mapped 60,000 acres during the past year. They started at the Umatilla and Morrow County boundary, moving west across the south end of the bombing range. The information collected was presented by Green to the coun ty court at the last Heppner dis trict board meeting. This includ ed aerial photographs showing District Achievements for 1969 1. Rock Creek Watershed project was authorized for planning. 2. Lake Penland Project engineering was completed and working agreement signed. 3. 60,000 acres of soil was surveyed In the north end of the county through agreement with county court. 4. Infiltration data was collected by college student for use in irrigation management. 5. More grass seedings are being put in on diverted acres and waterways. 6. Diversion and stubble mulch practices continue to increase with nearly 25 miles of diversions completed the past year. the different soils mapped and a special soil survey report with descriptions and interpretations. Field mapping will continue during the period, February April, 1970. Green says they should map 100,000 acres this year now that they are more familiar with the area. Heppner SWCD Supervisors RAYMOND FRENCH, CHAIRMAN KEN TURNER, VICE CHAIRMAN DICK McELLIGOTT, SECRETARY ED GONTY, TREASURER BRYCE KEENE ALBERT WRIGHT DAVID BAKER RUDY BERGSTROM Advisory Supervisors D. O. NELSON O. W. CUTS FORTH PAUL PETTYJOHN Resource Conservation And Development The Can-Do Projects By EARL N. JONES Soil Consorvcrtioa Service Bond, Oregon The foresight and determined effort of the six Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and more recently of the three County Courts and the three Port Dis tricts, has resulted in planning authorization for the proposed Columbia-Blue Mountain Re source Conservation and Devel opment Project embracing all of Morrow, Gilliam and Umatilla Counties. This authorization was announced by Agriculture Secretary Hardin on January 12, 1970. RC&D projects are based on the premise that people in pro ject areas can and will solve their resource problems through their own efforts if given some encouragement and some help by public agencies. Basically, it is a "self-help" program. We must keep this in mind, because the moment a Drolect becomes an effort directed and controlled by other than local people its effectiveness Is lost. Local leadership in the Columbia-Blue Mountain RC&D Project has built from the bot tom up rather than from the top down. Local people make decis ions about their project and what they intend to do. They recognize the need of the multi county approach and set the boundaries large enough to deal with area-wide problems and small enough for effective local leadership. RC&D projects were authorized by Section 102, Title I of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1962. The Soil Conservation Service, U. S. Department of Ag riculture, has been assJgnea pro gram leadership. The Columbia-Blue Mountain RC&D project Is one of sixty three !iieh Droiects in the United States authorized for planinng. Forty-five of these projects have been authorized for project op erations on completion of a Pro ject Plan. The six Soil and Water Con servation Districts submitted an application for planning assist ance for an RC&D project in the summer of 1963. An amended application adjusting project boundaries to include all of Mor row, Gilliam and Umatilla! Counties and adding as sponsors the County Courts of Morrow, Gilliam and Umatilla and the Port Districts of Port of Morrow, Port of Arlington and Port of Umatilla was submitted to Ken neth E. Grant, Soil Conservation Service Administrator on De cember 4", 1969. This amended application received the approv al and support of Governor Mc Call. The sponsors of this applica tion and amendment have been very active and have carried out several successful project meas ures and have organized for ac tion. Two Supervisors from each of the Six Soil and Water Conser vation Districts constitute the Coordinating Board. Edwin Hoeft and Ralph Saylor from the Southern Umatilla and West Umatilla SWCDs, respectively, serve as Co-Chairmen. The fol lowing Resource Committees, with their chairmen, have been active: Community Develop ment, Ralph Saylor; Cropland, R. E. Irby; Publicity, Martin Bu chanan; Rangeland, Raymond French; Recreation and Wildlife, Glenn Thome; Water, M. R. Johns; and Woodland, Wayne Bowman. The 1967 Annual Report, Columbia-Blue Mountain Resource Area, presented at a Public Meeting in Boardman on April 16, 1968, demonstrated very ef fectively that the local sponsors are taking their rural area devel opment responsibilities serious ly. This constructive document probably contributed to the sel ection of the Columbia-Blue Mountain Resource Area for one of the twelve national Project Planning authorizations early in 1970. The outstanding Brochure developed by the Port of Morrow in the Spring of 1969 probably provided a beneficial influence in this selection. The Local Sponsors have also demonstrated their capability to move confidently into project measures involving works of improvement, land treatment and accelerated soil surveys with a minimum of agency tecnlcal assistance and encour agement. This was done without a funded RC&D project and a formalized Project Plan. For ex maple, the Lake Penland Rec reation Project, a private irriga tion development in Northern Morrow County involving near i mnnn nrres: the accelerated soil surveys in 1969 and 1970 in Northern Morrow county. . the progressive activities of the Port of Morrow, including the industrial development consti- (Continued on page 5) Units 90.91X) acres 59,574 acres 106,4 acres 488 acres 3,284 acres 513 acres 454 acres 510 acres 5,064 acres 133,796 feet 3.233 feet 5 acres 10,423 feet 73 acres 53 acres 1,306 feet 3,130 acres 489 acres 2,700 feet 146,594 acres 215 acres 84.000 acres 15,710 feet 1.260 feet 1.0S8 feet 160.051 acres THE FOLLOWING ARE HAPPY TO JOIN IN SPONSORING THIS REPORT IN THE INTEREST OF CONSERVATION BANKS Bank of Eastern Oregon First National Bank of Oregon EQUIPMENT AND IRRIGATION Morrow County Grain Growers Padberg Machinery Company Highland Machinery Company Condon Frontier Machinery Corporation Pendleton Stone Machinery Company Pendleton Courtright Irrigation La Grande Columbia Pump and Electric Motors-Pcndleton Farm ore Pump and Irrigation Athena SUPPLIES Pettyjohn's Farm and Builders Supply Cornett Green Feed Rietmann Hardware Murrays Rexall Drug PETROLEUM Paul Pettyjohn Company Mike Gray Union Oil Service Morrow County Grain Growers, Inc., Petroleum Division Ed Dick Standard Oil Plant FERTILIZER Heppner Inland Chemical Ekstroms Bi-County Chemical MACHINE HIRE Gar Aviation Dick Meador White Grading Service INSURANCE Charles Ruggles Agency Farm Bureau Agency Vesta Kilkenny, Agent Charles O'Connor Turner, Van Marter and Bryant POWER Columbia Basin Electric Co-op AUTOMOBILE Farley Motor Company Fulleton Chevrolet Company Heppner Auto Sales, Inc. HEPPNER SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT Tile Drain .. 31 Wells Land Adequately Treated
