A History
of the Montana Chapter
Soil Conservation Society of
America
Marjory McTavish and Thomas Nimlos
The history of the Montana Chapter of the Soil
Conservation Society of America parallels the National Society's
development. The latter was created Nov. 11, 1941, as the American
Society of Soil and Moisture Conservation. The Society was
relatively inactive during World War II. Its name was later
changed to the Soil Conservation Association. Finally, the
membership voted in November 1945 to adopt the name of -- the Soil
Conservation Society of America. The organization sent out
invitations for charter members and chapters to join in 1943. In
1987 it was changed again to the Soil and Water Conservation
Society.
The Montana Chapter, the sixth in the nation to be organized,
was first referred to as the Bozeman Chapter because all members
were in the state office of the Soil Conservation Service, located
in Bozeman. The first Chapter meeting was held in July 1945 in the
home of H. D. Hurd, the assistant state conservationist. Henry
Lantz was elected temporary president, then was elected the first
Montana Chapter president at the second meeting of the Chapter in
December 1945.
The first slate of officers was elected at the December 1945
meeting and a constitution was adopted. Charter members included:
Merle Brunsvold, Dave R. Cawlfield, Harold W. Cooper, James L.
Doyle, Millard M. Edgmond, Lewis W. Fuller, George H. Gable,
Kenneth W. Harman, Herschell D. Hurd, Larry Osburnsen, E. H.
Sandberg, H. W. Riek and Philip E. Van Cleave.
In 1973 A. B. "Ave" Lindford, a Montana Chapter
member of the Society, served as national president of SCSA. This
provided impetus for the Montana Chapter's growth during the past
decade. One of the major problems facing Chapter membership
continues to be the long travel distances associated with such a
large state. Some of our members are located in Libby, to the
northwest, and Baker, in the southeast, a distance of more than
700 miles. However, the Chapter continues to grow in numbers,
enthusiasm and influences within the conservation community of
Montana.
Distances played a significant part in the Chapter membership
inactivity between 1948 and 1965. The main activity of the Chapter
was in eastern Montana under the leadership of H. W. Riek.
In the early '60s leadership of the Chapter divided the state
into five sections, with an elected director to coordinate
activities within each section. A vigorous membership drive was
initiated to increase the number of members and to expand the
organization beyond the membership of the Soil Conservation
Service. The new organization improved communication and initiated
a more direct approach to state conservation concerns. The
momentum of the '60s continued to motivate members through the
'70s and into the '80s. In 1987, the Montana Chapter hosted the
National Soil and Water Conservation Society meeting in Billings,
Montana.
Today the Montana Chapter membership is made up of more than
200 professional and non-professional people working in many
phases of agriculture and natural resources. Mining and mine land
reclamation, forestry, fisheries and wildlife, soil science,
agronomy and water quality are only a few of the disciplines
represented by the Chapter's current membership.
WINTER MEETINGS
The Chapter holds an annual winter meeting
where the chapter business is handled and future meetings and
activities are planned. A day-long workshop or symposium is held
in conjunction with each year's winter meeting, addressing various
topics and current conservation concerns to the state. Speakers
are experts in their fields. They represent farming, business and
the educational community within Montana and the nation. Each year
the winter meeting highlights an issue of current concern to the
Chapter membership.
Another highlight of each annual winter meeting is presentation
of student papers. Graduate and undergraduate students from both
Montana State University at Bozeman and the University of Montana
at Missoula compete for cash prizes and awards. Subjects of the
student papers generally relate to the theme of the winter
meeting. These students bring a stimulating, new dimension to the
Montana Chapter membership.
SUMMER MEETINGS
The Montana Chapter has discontinued
having regular summer meetings because of lack of participation.
However, they sometimes coordinate a joint summer meeting with
other organizatioins like the Society of Range Management.
SPECIAL MEETINGS
One particularly successful meeting was held in
Billings in March 1978. The symposium "Adequate Reclamation
of Mined Lands?" was co-sponsored by the Montana, Wyoming,
Colorado and North Dakota Chapters of the Society. More than 500
people attended the symposium, representing 26 states and three
Canadian provinces.
In the spring of 1998, the Montana Chapter co-sponsored and
Irrigation Symposium with the Natural Resources Conservation
Service in Billings, Montana. The Montana Chapter also
co-sponsored an Urban Sprawl Conference in Helena, Montana, in the
fall of 1998.
McTavish is retired from
the Soil Conservation Service,
and Nimios was
a soil scientist at the School of Forestry,
University of Montana, Missoula.
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