Number: 1985-23
WHEREAS, the national soil loss from erosion is estimated at 6.4 billion tons per year, occurring from many sources such as farm lands, stream banks, construction sites, forest and range lands, reducing the productivity of these lands for all uses, including wildlife; and
WHEREAS, sedimentation from soil erosion fills and despoils our nation’s ponds, lakes, streams, rivers and wetlands, killing fish, destroying habitat and carrying chemicals into our drinking water; and
WHEREAS, 96 million acres of productive farmlands are eroding at rates exceeding the tolerable level of 5 tons of soil loss per acre per year; and
WHEREAS, it is recognized that no nation can remain strong that allows its basic natural resource, the soil, to be lost; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Soil Conservation Service is the principal agency that has been working to reduce loss of topsoil since 1935, and the primary mission is not duplicated by other efforts or agencies; and
WHEREAS, this agency carries out its mission through local Soil Conservation Districts working with cooperating private landowners; and
WHEREAS, the Soil Conservation Service addresses many resources such as forests, grasslands, wildlife, and fish, dependent upon soil productivity, and promotes the conservation ethic through conservation education activities; and
WHEREAS, the current Administration’s budget proposal would virtually eliminate the Soil Conservation Service as an effective conservation agency; and
WHEREAS, the employed professional conservationists would be reduced from 14,156 to 5,000 by October 1, 1986; and
WHEREAS, if this conservation agency’s effectiveness in carrying out its primary mission is severely restricted, there will be immediate and long-term losses to our natural resources; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation and its affiliates have long recognized the integral relationship between soil and all other natural resources, including fish and wildlife;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 14-17, 1985, in Arlington, Virginia, supports the soil protection and erosion control efforts of the Soil Conservation Service and petitions Congress not to reduce necessary funding to carry out these programs, thereby continuing to protect our nation’s soil and other natural resources.