Number: 1984-26
RETENTION OF FRAGILE PUBLIC LANDS ACQUIRED UNDER BANKHEAD-JONES ACT AND OPPOSITION TO GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES FOR “SODBUSTING”
WHEREAS, one of the great American tragedies of the 20th Century occurred during the 1930’s, in which land abuse and improper land stewardship had far reaching social, economic and environmental effects on this Nation; and
WHEREAS, land abuses which contributed heavily to the drought and depression years of the 1930’s were the focus of the Bankhead-Jones Act of 1937 in which Congress sought to prevent a repetition of the Dust Bowl years by removing millions of acres of fragile lands from any future cultivation to prevent water and wind erosion which could further damage the public values of the lands; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Government is proposing to sell and/or exchange Bankhead-Jones Act lands of classes V, VI, and VII; and
WHEREAS current Department of Agriculture policies and programs provide incentives to speculators to purchase land suitable only for grazing, plow and plant those fragile lands to crops, collect federal incentive payments, and sell these “sodbusted” lands at a substantial profit;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 15-18, 1984, in Atlanta, Georgia, support passage of federal legislation which would remove all federal subsidies from such land abuse practices, including government crop insurance, storage loans, price support payments, and other incentives which foster “sodbusting” of unsuitable croplands (primarily Soil Conservation Service soil Classes V, VI and VII); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation strongly opposes the offering of Bankhead-Jones lands (classes V, VI, and VII) for sale or exchange, except where those lands can be exchanged to an appropriate state or federal agency where they will remain in public ownership and its public values protected.