Message to the Congress
Transmitting a Report on Soil and Water Resources Conservation
To
the Congress of the
Transmitted
herewith is the annual report required by Section 7(b) of the Soil and Water
Resources Conservation Act of 1977 (P.L. 95 - 192) as amended by P.L. 99 - 198.
The
Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977 (RCA) requires the Secretary
of Agriculture to appraise the condition of the soil, water, and related
resources on the non-Federal lands of the Nation, and to develop a national
soil and water conservation program for assisting landowners and land users in
their future conservation activities on these lands.
The
first appraisal, completed in 1980, was based primarily on the Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) 1977 Natural Resources Inventory (NRI). The 1977 NRI was
the most comprehensive and refined body of such data that had ever become
available. It provided a solid foundation for the appraisal of the program.
The
first program report, a National Program for Soil and Water Conservation, was
completed in 1982. It set national conservation objectives and priorities,
focused corrective action on the areas of the country with the most critical
problems, and strengthened the existing partnership among local and State
agencies, organizations, and the Federal Government for dealing with resource
problems. Guided by this program, USDA has extended more technical and
financial assistance than ever before in areas with the most serious problems
of soil erosion and dwindling water supplies.
The
USDA has been reshaping its conservation programs, using the 1980 appraisal and
1982 program as its blueprint. In addition, these two vital tools have enabled
the USDA to analyze how its other programs, aside from
those specifically for conservation, affect the condition of soil and water
resources.
This
annual report summarizes fiscal year 1986 soil and water conservation programs
and activities, and progress being made under the 1982 National Program for
Soil and Water Conservation. Accomplishment data included in the report are
consistent with those reported in the 1988 budget request and the accompanying
explanatory notes. I would like to reaffirm my support for the ongoing effort
against soil erosion and other resource problems. I am confident that further
progress can be made towards the goal of reasonable and judicious use of this
country's important natural resources.
Ronald
Reagan
The
White House,