The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-12-02
WATERSHEDS LOOM
AS NATIONAL Land
KEY, SAYS Wilbur
Interior Secretary IN Annual Re.
port Favors Community
Reclamation Control

Washington. Dec. 2.-H1-Stepping
from the halls Of Stanford university
into the cabinet. Ray Lyman WILDER,
famed diagnostician and educator. has
informed his old friend, President
Hoover. that a changing emphasis"
is the need Of the big and busy in
terror department.
Some of the great bureaus of his
department. he said In his annual re-
port today, have overtaken the peak
Of their administrative load. while
others have large tasks ahead for
completion. Empsasis, therefore, he
reasoned. should be transferred from
those whose duties arc OH the de-
crease to those showing constantly
increasing fields Of activity"
The pension bureau and the gen.
eral land office were cited as two bu-
rcaus the duties Of which r on the
decrease. The geological survey, the
bureau Of reclamation, the national
park service and the office Of educa-
ton were listed by the former uni
versity president as the branches Of
his department called upon to carry
out q huge expansion program
planned in the reorganization Of the
department.
Sell. support Indian Goal
The Indian service, troublesome Tor
over 100 years. vas presented IN the
following paragraph:
lone activity, that Of the Indian
service, has before 1t a definite ana
UNIQUE poal-that of working itself
out Of a job. It's program calls Tor g
large economic. saving to the country
BY increasing present expenditures 10
enable the Indian population eventu-
ally to become self supporttng."
Administration of the public DO.
main DR.. wilbur reported to be Of
prime Importance. with great empha-
sis needed on the necessity OF con-
servation.
prom Nebraska west water. and
water alone, is the key to ~ ~
ture.' he said. Homestead thinking
must be replaced by watershed-thlnk-
ing
Urges Local Reclamation Control
The difficulty of understanding n
controlling problems growing out OF
the administration OF the public /.
main has caused the appointment OF
q commission to study the possibility
and feasibility Of transferring public
lands to the public land states. The
commission is now studying this
question, involving more than l9O,-
600 600 acres Of public lands.
Secretary Wilbur desires to see the
government participation end when
reclamation projects have been COM
pleted. The community affected. he
said, should administer the completed
work. This policy, he added. Will be
effective as far as possible In the con-
structiOn and administration Of the
reclamation bureaus greatest UNDER
taking, Boulder dam.
DR.. wilbur deplored the present
methods Of obtaining oil from the
ground, characterizing it as 'westeful
overproduction Of q fast-dwindling re-
source Efforts of the department and
the federal oil conservation board
about an oil conservation program
were pointed out with satisfaction and
with the statement that the present
conservation policy will be continued"
Approves OIL Conservation
The presidents move to stop pros
pecting for oil on the public domain
was supported on the grounds that
until the present day Of wasteful
overproduction Is over the potential
supply Of oil in the public domain
must be safeguarded."
Plans for the reorganization Of the
off1NA ~ MdssNok}On h0On ho0n Nnvn-