Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1982)
SWCD Board The basic responsibility for conservation programs is vested by Oregon Statutes in the district boards of direct ors. The district board mem bers are unpaid elected citi zens of their districts. By statute, all but two board members in each district must be landowners or managers of ten or more acres of land. They are elected at the general election for four-year starred terms of office. The districts have responsi bility for erosion control, water conservation, water resources development, flood control, irrigation water man agement, animal waste man agement, nonpoint source wa ter quality, stream corridor management, range and pas ture management, fish and wildlife habitat protection, weed control, forest manage ment, and a large number of related resource programs. They are concerned about natural resource issues on private lands and on public lands as they affect private lands and private land opera tors. District boards have an almost infinite number of responsibilities and opportun ities for service to their communities, but they have severely limited resources with which to function. Many lack basic clerical assistance and support staff. Districts have been depen dent upon other agencies, primarily federal and upon state and county governments for all of their manpower and financial resources. The USDA Soil Conservation Ser vice (SCS) has historically provided technical assistance through assigned staff techni cians for each district, but the numbers of these have been greatly reduced over the past few years. SCS has also provided limited financial as sistance for district project activities, but this, too, is disappearing. Limited cost -share funds for YOUR Everything you nerd to do HANDYMAN the job yourself! CENTER Power Tools Paint O Lumber O Garden Supplies & Tool Fiwhing & Camping Geur BACKHOE GRAVEL DIRT HAULING EXPERIENCED BONDED AND LICENSED TOP WITH BLADE FOR LEVELING & DOZER WORK HEPl'NER OO 676-9157 Piicnnns services fob Y0IIR II0X.ll OH 147 Warn If Emit! GAZETTE-HUES 67"9223 of Directors individual district coopcrators or small group projects are available through the Agricul tural Conservation Program (ACP). The Cooperative Ex tension Service provides in formation and education pro gram support and has gener ally cooperated with district boards. One of our most effective avenues of reaching districts is through the Oregon Associ ation of Conservation Dis tricts. This statewide organi zation of SWCD directors sponsors area meetings each fall and spring. We are currently in the midst of the fall meetings at this time. The OSCD also sponsors an annual meeting. The association meetings provide excellent forums for exchanges of ideas and information between dis tricts as well as for us to communicate new develop ments from the state and federal levels. We assist districts in their relationship to other units of local government, state agen cies, federal agencies and many associations and organ izations. We have been parti cularly active in building close ties between SWCDs and county governments during the past few years. We believe that if districts are to survive and to achieve their goals, they must have the support of their county governments. Currently, we are admini stering a matching fund program under which district boards receive $1,200 of state appropriated funds, provided they raise at least $600 at the district level. These funds are used for district operations in many ways, but it is far from adequate. All districts have received their matching funds in past years and we antici pate that will be true this biennium. We are also administering a new fund this biennium. This is a grant program under which we will be able to SERVICE EXCAVATING INSTALLATION Of SEPTIC TANKS AND DRAIN FIELDS The oversees many provide a very limited amount of money for conservation projects. We have $36,000 for this biennium. but are hopeful that it can be increased when the state's economy becomes stronger. The division spends much of its efforts helping districts supplement the traditional sources of manpower and dollars. We were able to obtain assistance through the CETA program when it was available and at one time had over 40 people in district offices who were able to effectively increase SCS tech nical assistance to the land owners. We had a student trainee program funded by the state which also provided supplemental assistance. These assistance programs were eliminated July 1. 1980 due to budget cuts. Besides county and state funds, as previously mention ed, we have aggressively sought other sources of fund ing. One of these was the 208 program under which we have been able to focus federal funds on some serious state conservation problems. We believe this has been effective in gaining some much needed attention on certain priority problem areas. We have also prevented EPA and DEQ from turning it into a strong regulatory effort which, in our belief, would have been a serious mistake. Much headway has been, and is being made. More erosion control practices are being installed each year in the wheat-summer fallow re gion of north Central Oregon. This effort is beginning to have an impact and has been snowballing the last few years, attracting national at tention. Neither SCS nor ACP can keep up with the demand for assistance. Previously, districts have never had the power to tax. Now. the 1981 legislature has given Soil and Water Conser- LET'S WORK TOGETHER HANI K OF 1 M II - I L I II 1 ?iij2fj' "Your Home-Owned, Independent Bert" ARLINGTON, HEPPNER AND IONE Gaiette-Times. Heppner, Oregon, natural resource issues vation districts the authority to go to the voters and ask for the power to tax. This is an important first step for dis tricts. Districts in every part of the stale are active and aggres sively moving ahead. Not all districts are at the same level of participation, but every district has a long range program and is making pro gress to achieve their goals. Increased field contacts by the division staff with district directors and improved com munication with local units of government are vital needs that must be met if our natural resource problem is to be successfully dealt with. Erosion is a growing nation al concern. It is estimated that we are currently losing more topsoil from agricultural lands across the country than we did during the dust bowl. Without an accelerated na tionwide effort carried on at UrtixKzrct! Reciltp, Inc. EUS N. First St. - Hermiitoii. Ore. 17131 Phone (MJ)SI7438J COLLECT WHEAT FARM, over 1200 acres; 950 pivot Irrigated, 2 wells, barns, hayshed. lovely 4000 sq. ft. home, adjoining city. $1,800,000. 203 IRRIGATED ACRES established in alfalfa seed, shop, meat cutting room, water from well or Umatilla Hood Control, 9'4 mile wheel lines, 3V mile hand lines, located along golf course. FARMS HOMES COMMERCIAL WE WANT YOUR CALL US WsJVE'RE BEHIND ALL THE WAY HELPING YOU TO FARM WITH SUCCESS BECAUSE CONSERVATION IS Thursday. February 25, ISS2-FIVE stale and local levels, the ability of this country's soil resources to produce an ade quate supply of food for a rapidly growing population is in extreme danger. Forestry, from page 3 the timberland around the homes, the homes are essen tially unprotected and the potential for catastrophic loss in the event of a forest fire is high. We will be increasing our efforts to work with landowners in these areas to help prevent future losses. Cost-share, from page 4 beginning of the project. . " At present there are 10 long term agreements with Mor row County farmers for treat ment of designated fields over a three to five year period. The total amount of cost shares approved on these agreements is $135,587. LISTINGS: Members FLI YOU As a farmer, you can de pend on the people who depend on you . . . us! We know that your job is a vital part of the growth of this community. . . and your success benefits us all. So we make it a point to help you financially when ever we can. EVERYBODY'S JOB!! MEMBER INSURANCE CORPORATION
