CRITICAL RESOURCE PROBLEM AREAS

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Could you provide a list of what SCS considers the critical resource problem areas?

RESPONSE. Resource inventory data shows that critical resource problems exist in parts of about 1,800 counties nationwide. We do not have a list of the exact counties involved, but we do know that about 157 million acres of the national total of 413 million acres of cropland are eroding at rates greater than that of soil formation by natural processes. Increasing water demands for nonagricultural uses could limit production on the 62 million acres of irrigated cropland.

In fiscal year 1985, SCS will be targeting $40.6 million to provide accelerated technical assistance in 917 counties with critical erosion and water conservation problems. Maps showing the location of these counties are provided for the record.

[The information follows:]

ALLOCATION OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FUNDS

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Could you provide documentation of the reallocation of funding for technical assistance programs? Please provide a list or maps of what areas of the country have lost funds and what areas have gained funding?

[The information follows:]

A new look at funding technical assistance

By Peter C. Myers

T

HE most important line item in the Soil Conservation Service appropriation each year is "conservation operations." Eight of every 10 dollars in that account go to support trained conservationists who help land users plan, apply, and maintain natural resource systems. These conservationists help land users, conservation districts, local and state governments, and others locate sources of needed conservation assistance within the U.S. Department of Agriculture and elsewhere.

Conservation operations accounts for more than 40 percent of the total SCS budget and 60 percent of all technical help the agency provides. For fiscal 1984, the base allocation to states for funding SCS technical assistance is $215.4 million, up from the 1980 total of $190.6 million. This large share of SCS's life deserves to be spread among states efficiently and responsively. In a time fiscal constraint and pressing but varied natural resource needs, efficiency and responsiveness become urgent matters. SCS now has a new funding allocation system that will help the agency do more to meet local and national objectives. The historical base

Some 40 years ago, conservation technical assistance funds were allocated to SCS state conservationists based on the number of conservation districts organized in the state. Most SCS help is given through districts.

As time went on, "what we got last year" became the primary basis for allocating next year's funds. The result: States that were covered by conservation districts in the early years of district formation built up a larger base.

By the early 1970s, it was becoming clear that this incremental way of doing business was no longer good enough. It did not reflect the diverse resource needs of 3,000 conservation districts. It did not allow for changed resource conditions, community needs, or state priorities. It was well suited for additions but never subtractions.

The need for a new method was evident from several studies made under the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977, from analyses of National Resources Inventory data in the late 1970s, and from several reports by the General Accounting Office.

A new formula

In January 1981, the SCS conservation planning and application staff at the national headquarters gathered up previous suggestions, did some thinking of its own, and designed a new formula for deciding how much of the available technical assistance money should go to each state. Reprinted with permission from the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (January February 1984)