The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1947-09-12


Speakers were: Albert Kruse
state commissioner of agriculture
(For report on Kruse talk, see Page
p. d. p. Fabrick, Choteau, and g
member of State Water Conserva
ton Board since its inception in
1884. Don W. Chapman, president
of Montana Farmers Union. Jerome
G. Locke, MVA regional board
member, and Sen. James e. Muir
ray. The meeting was chaired by
Judge Left Erickson, and past
chairman of the Missouri Valley
Association.
Pro-MVA Sentiment Growing
In Missouri
In opening the discussion Mr..
Erickson reviewed the history of
the agitation to establish an inte-
grated river development such as
is incorporated in the Murray MVA
bill before the congress. Chairman
Erickson also pointed out that he
had recently returned from spend
ing several weeks in Missouri and
st. Louis, and that because of the
disastrous floods, sentiment for an
MVA was crystallizing not only
among farm folks, but city people
as well. He also pointed out that
the st. Louis Post-Dispatch, long an
advocate of MVA, is doing a thor
ough job of bringing home to Mis-
sourians the need for an integrated
development to end the increasing
ly disastrous floods and to bring
about overall utilization of the i'm
mense resources of our valley.
By way of answering and affirm
ing Gov. Sam Ford's protest of
last week, decrying the economic |
peonage which has been forced |
upon valley residents, Mr.. Erick- !
sons stated: "MVA offers a specific
way to get the industrial and re-
source development everybody
wants :. the only way to cast off
our present colonial status is
through an integrated development
of all our valleys resources :"
Montana's Water Conservation
Program
d. p. Dick" Fabrick, father of
the irrigation development in the
Conrad-Valier area, and long time
member of the State Water Con-
servation board, in opening his talk
stated: g. the proper way to
develop land and water resources
is by river basins :" He then
went on to review the history of
SWCB from the time it was author
led by the special assembly in /
1884, at the request of the late Gov
Frank Cooney. ]
SWCB since that time has made t
available 100000 acre feet of water /
or supplemental and new irriga- =
ion on approximately the same i
lumber of acres. This. in turn has +
proved of great benefit to thous- Ii
lnds of Montana farm people, par
icularly through central and south n
I'm Montana. o
To bring home SWCB accom- :,
Mr.. Fabrick used as ex- a
mples the several SWCB projects /
n the Townsend to Gallatin and n
lark county areas and how these s.
ad increased the production in G
hose areas. He also dealt at some u
ength with the Musselshell, from :.
lartinsdale to east of Roundup, -
nd the joint effort being made by o,
web and the Soil Conservation
ervice in retaining this once w
abulously fertile farm area which Of
anne near ruin during the drouth tr
ears because of the wrong use of ce
lie land. This wrong land usage w
,rced large scale abandonment of II,
lrms, closed banks, bankrupted VIC
Involved in the Mus liz
slshell project are several storage
ans in the Martinsdale area, many
lies of diversion and supply ca
Ills, and also the large natural res ex
voir = Dead Mans basin" - So
,uple miles north and east of re
lawmut. In addition to the de- ST
,lopment of water resources, graz ~
G districts have been set up in ~
g Musselshell area and much soil 49,,
observation work is being done. on