The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, March 31, 1937, Page 13

and i ! i E i E ge j | 3 | | i 5 i i | g H i Hl 5 i i a i ge [ } i E iB Hs i At it : ; [ tl i i ai i a § i i i gE AER g ty. Be It Enacted by the Legislative As- seh within five years ‘The owner of any legal Or equitable interest in real heretofore leased for the production ok ee aeieel ice ein ivyidaape,of:seoord i Z fi for, it shall be iter of Deeds to or assignee of rec- ait E Is eS uy ; g 5 g , Otherwise to the h lease will be eased unless such or assignee shall appear before in and for such ty (90) days after notice and show dy i : H id Hi #g ' , uae : E i Eee et i Ee i: 3 z a g i § l i z | 8 = 8 Hy i Bg? E I t lessee or assignee District Court he Register of Deeds and such Register upon notify such such appearance. There- and such Bt flee Lt i i i eR ¥F Ate fee 3 g 3 a. E i Ei it i i : E i q Eg E gag i! fe eye HU elet ie Bek HE i E BB : : Hl Aa | EF H ERE sb Li k + if 8 e 2 : a : A E I g E | 4 z | fr E i FEE re i i Hi of it a aE if i zt i i i Gi k E FE ag : ae 3 E e ll Cy i Ff F i E [ gas ates ft He ui the Rest i i : i € Z i [ i 3 g I 4 ' 5 i ! a use regulations discontinuance of districts; making | ized &n. appropriation and declaring an emergency. Be It Enacted By the Legislative As- Ea eee Section 1. Short Title.) This Act may be known and cited as the Soll Conservation Districts Law. Section 2, Declaration of Policy.) It is hereby declared to be the policy of the legislature to poe for the conservation of the soil and soil re- sources of this State, and for the con: trol and prevention of soil erosion, ‘nd thereby to preserve natural re~ sources, contro] floods, prevent im-/| tion. pairment of dams and. reservoirs, as- sist in maintaining the trolled 4 of rivers and harbors, preserve wild life, protect the tax base, protect pub< lic lands and protect and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the people of this State. Section 3. Definitions.) Wherever used or referred to in this Act, unless @ different meaning clearly appears from the context: (1) “District” or “Soil Conservation District” means a governmental sub- division of this State, and a public body corporate and politic, organized in accordance with the provisions of this Act, for the purposes, with powers, and subject to the restrictions hereinafter set forth. (2) “Supervisor” means one of thé members of the governing body of a District, elected or appointed in ac- cordance with the provisions of this Act. (3) “Committee” or or “State Soil sens servation Committ means ee! created in Section 4 of this Act. (4) “Petition” means a petition filed under the provisions of sub-sec- tion A of Section 5 of thisyAct for the creation of a District. (5) “State” means the State of North Dakota: (6) “Agency of this State” in- cludes the government of this State and any subdivision, agency or instru- mentality, corporate or otherwise, of the government of this State. (1) “United States” or “agencies of the United States” includes the United States of America, the Soil Conserva~ tion Service of the United States De- partment of Agriculture, and any other agency or instrumentality, cor= porate or otherwise,. of the United States of America, (8) “Government” or “govern- mental” includes the government of this state the government of the United States, and any subdivision, agency) or instrumentality, corporate or oth- erwise, of either of them. (9) “Land occupier” or “occupier of land” includes any person, firm or corporation who shall hold title to, or shall be in possession of, any lands. lying within a District organized un- der the provisions of this Act, whether as owner, lessee, renter, tenant, or cropper. 10) “Due Notice’ means notice published at least twice, with an in- terval-of at least seven days between the two publication dates, in a news- paper or other publication of gen- eral circulation within the appropri- late area, or if no such publication of general circulation be available, by posting at a reasonable number of conspicuous places within the appro- priate area, such posting to include, where possible, posting at public places where it may be necessary fo post notices concerning county or municipal affairs generally. At any hearing held pursuant to such notice, at the time and place designated in such notice, adjournment may be made from time to time without the necessity of renewing such notice for such adjourned dates. Section 4. State Soil Conservation Committee.) A. There is hereby established, to serve as an agency of the State of North Dakota and to perform the functions conferred upon it in this Act, the State Soil Conservation Com- mittee, such committee to consist of the Governor, the State Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor, the Direc- tor of the State Extension Service and one member to be appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture of the United State of America. Such membership | use of the Committee shall serve without additional compensation other than traveling expenses necessarily in- ocurred in carrying out the duties pre- scribed by such Committee under the terms of this-Act. Such Committee shall keep a record of its official ac- tions, shall adopt @ seal, which seal shall be judicially noticed, and may perform such acts, hold such public hearings and Dromuleaie such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the execution of its functions un- der this Act. B. The State Soil Conservation Committee may employ an adminis- trative officer and such technical ex- perts and such other agents and em- ployees, permanent and temporary, as it may require, and shall determine | the their qualifications, duties and com- pensation. The Committee may call upon the Attorney General of the State for such legal services as it may require, or may employ its own coun- sel and legal staff. It shall have au- thority to delegate to its chairman, to one or more of its members, or to one or more agents or employees, such powers and duties as it may deem proper. The Board of Administration of the State shall supply sujtable of- accommodations at the seat of fhe state Government, and shall fur- nish the necessary supplies and equip- the | ment. Upon request of the Committee, for the purpose of carrying out any of its functions, the supervising officer of any State agency, or of any State institution of learning shall, insofar as may be possible under available eppropriations, and having due re- gard to the needs of the agency to which the request is directed, assign or detail to the Committee members of the staff or personnel of such agency or institution of learning, and make such special reports, surveys or studies as the Committee may re+ . | quest. C. The Committee shall designate its chairman, and may, from time to time, cHange such designation. A majority of the Committee shall con- stitute a quorum and the concur- rence of a majority in any matter within their duties shall be required for its determination. The Commit- tee shall provide for the execution of sugety bonds for all employees and officers who shall be entrusted. with funds or property; shall provide for the keeping of a full and accurate record of all’ proceedings and of all resolutions, regulations and orders is- sued or adopted; and shall provide for an annual audit of the accounts of receipts and disbursements, D. in addition to the duties and powers hereinafter conferred upon the State Soil Conservation Committee, it shall have the following duties and Powers: Q) To offer such assistance as tricts. To ‘Conservatic their the’ territory First: tion. tay be apororite to the Sapte tion Districts, organ-/ on nies yeovided: tacuanatter tances Carrving out of any of their powers “a To keep the Supervisors of each of the several Districts organised under the of this Act ine formed of the activities and exper- fence of all other Districts organized hereunder and to facilitate an inter- @) To co-ordinate the programs of the several Soll Conservation Districts organized hereunder so fer as this maybe done by advice and consulta- ao) ‘To secure the co-operation and assistance of the United States and ‘any of its agencies and of agencies of this State, in the work of such Dis- Section 5. Creation of Soil Con- | > Districts.) servation A. Any twenty-five (25) occupiers tereliory proposed to be orgnnsed into Pro) to @ District may file a petition with the! a, State Soll Conservation Committee | asking that a Soil Conservation Dis- trict be organized to function in the territory described in the petition. Such Pehle shall set forth: : The proposed name of said District; Second: That there is need for a Soil Conservation District to function in the territory described in the peti- Third: A description of the terri- tory proposed to be organized within any County as a District. Fourth: A request that the State Soil Conservation committee duly; ‘t! define the bountaries for such Dis- trict; that a referendum be held within the territory so defined on the question of the creation of a Soil Con- servation District in such territory; and that the Committee determine that such a District be created, ‘Where more than one petition is filed covering parts of the same ter- ritory, the State Soll Conservation Committee may consolidate all or any such petitions. B. Within thirty (30) days after such a petition has been filed with the State Soil Conservation Committee, it shall cause due notice to be given of Proposed hearing upon the question of the desirability and necessity, in the public interest, of the creation of such District, upon the boyrengei tsi of the appropriate boundaries to be to such District, upon the propriety of the petition and other proceedings| the taken under this Act, and upon all questions relevant thereto. All occu- piers of land within the limits of the. territory described in the petition, and of lands within any territory con- sidered for addition to such eet territory, and all other interested par: ties, shall have the. right to atiend such hearings and to be heard. If it shall appear upon the hearing that it may be desirable to include within the proposed District territory outside of the area within which due notice, of further hearing has been given the hearing shall be adjourned and due notice of further hearing shall be given throughout the entire area con- sidered for inclusion in the pee and such further hearing held. such hearing if the Committee shall determine, upon the facts at such hearing and upon such other relevant facts and information as may be available, that there is need, in the public interest, for a Soil Conserv- ation District to function in the ter- rftory considered at the hearing, it shall make and record such determ- ination, and shall define, by metes end bounds or by legal subdivisions, the boundaries of such District. In making such determination and in de- fining such boundaries, the Commit- tee shall give due weight and consid- eration to the topography of the area considered and of the state, the com- position of soils bigiie the distribu-. tion, of erosion, the practices, the desirability and ne- cessity of including within the bound- aries the particular lands under con- sideration and the benefits such lands may receive from being included within such boundaries, the relation of the proposed area to existing wa- tersheds and agricultural regions, and to other Soll Conservation Districts already organized or proposed for or- ganization under the provisions of: this Act, and such other physical, geo- graphic and economic factors as ore relevant, having due regard to the legislative policy set forth in Section dct aus A If the Committee shall determine after such hearing, after due consideration of the said relevant facts, that there is no need for a Soil Conservation District to function in territory considered at the hear- ing, it shall make and record such de- termination and shall deny the pe- expired from the date of the denial of any such pesthon. subsequent peti- tions covering the same or substan- tially the same territory may be see as eforesaid and new hearings hel and determinations made jy @) Only occupiers of land within | to boundaries of the Dis- trict shall be entitled to vote in such | to plers, thse Setbabta Sapieine or Safvyhie of soil blowing and soll washing may on erosion control opeations within such District and such other economic and social factors as may be relevant, Provided, however, the Committee shall not have authority to determine. that the operation of any proposed District is practicable and feasible, unless at least a majority of the votes at such referendum are in favor Creation of such District. - F. If the Committee shall “deter- mine that the operation of such pro- Posed District is administratively aay E E E Vik 2 He clude the territory as determined by the State Soll Conservation Commit- tee as aforesaid, but ‘in no event shall hea include any area included within the boundaries of another Soll Con- servation District organized under the Provisions of this Act. G. Petitions for including addi- tional territory within an existing dis- trict may be filed with the Soil Con- bead Committee at any time and the proceedings herein provided for 2 case of Per nons to organize a Dis- et shall be observed in case of pe- titions for such inclusion. H. After six (6) months shall have expired from the date of entry of a determination by the State Soll Con- servation Committee that operation of @ proposed District is not adminis- tratively practicable and feasible and denial of a petition pursuant to such determination, subsequent petitions may be filed as aforesaid, and action taken thereon in accordance with the Provisions of this Act. (1) In any sult, action or proceed- be prevented and controlled; (3) To carry out preventive and Control measures within the District including, but not lUmited to, engi- neering operations, methods of culti- vation, the growing of vegetation, changes in use of land, on lands owned or controlled by this State or any of its agencies, with the co-operation of the agency administering and having Jurisdiction thereof, and on any other lands within the District upon obtain- ing the consent of the occupier of such lands or the necessary rights or interest in such lands; (4) To co-operate, or enter into agreements with, and within the lim- its of appropriations duly made avail- able to'it by law, to furnish financial or other aid to, any agency, govern- mental or otherwise, or any occupier of lands within the District, in the on of erosion control and prevention operations within the Dis- trict, subject to such conditions as the. Supervisors may deem necessary to advance the purposes of this Act; (5) . To obtaig options upon and to acquire, by purchase, exchange, lease, gift, grant, bequest, devise or other- wise, any property, real or personal, or rights or interest therein; to main- tain, administer, and improve any j Properties acquired, to receive income from such properties and to expend such income in carrying out the pur- poses and provisions of this Act; and to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of any of its property or interests therein in furtherance of the purposes and the provisions of this Act; (6) To make available, on such terms as it shall prescribe, to land oc- cupiers within the District, agricul- tural and engineering machinery and equipment, fertilizer, seeds and seed- lings, and such other material or equipment as will assist such land occupiers to carry on operations upon their lands for the conservation of soll and water resources and for the prevention and control of soil erosion; () To construct, improve and maintain such structures as may be necessary or convenient for the per- formance of any of the operations au- thorized in this Act; (8) To develop comprehensive plans for the conservation of soll resources and for the control and prevention of Soil erosion within the District, which Plans shall specify in such detail as may be possible, the acts, procedures, performances and avoidances which ing involving the validity of enforce- ; 2 necessary or desirable for the ef- ment of, or relating to, any contract, fectuation of such plans, including proceeding or action of the District, | the specification of engineering oper- the District shall be deemed to have | tions, methods. of cultivation, the been established in accordance with; towing of vegetation, cropping pro- the provisions of this Act. upon proof of the issuance of the aforesaid certif- assigned | cate by the Secretary of State. A copy of such certificate duly certified by the Secretary of State shall be admis- sible in evidence in any such sult, ac- tion or proceeding and shall be proof of the filing and contents thereof. Section 6. Election, Qualifications and Tenure of Supervisors.) A.\ The Governing body of the District shall consist of three Super- visors who shall be elected from the land occupiers within such. District. The term of office of each Supervisor shall be three years except that the Supervisors who are first elected shall be designated to serve for one, two! and three years, respectively, from the date of their election Such Supervisors shall designate a. chairman and may from time to time change such desig- Atfter}nation. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term. A majority of such Supervisors shall consist of a quorum and the concurrence of a ma- jority in any matter within their du- ties shall be required for its termina- tion. Such Supervisors shall serve without compensation. & B. The Supervisors may employ such officers, agents or employees Rermanent and temporary ‘as ‘they may require and shall determine their qualifications, duties and compensa- tion. Such Supervisors may call upon the Attorney General or the States Attorney of any County in which such District is situated for such legal serv- ‘ices as they may require. The Super- visors may delegate to their chair- man or to any of their number such ay as they may deem proper and shall furnish to the State Committee upon request copies of such ordi- nancés, rules, regulations, orders, con- tracts and the documents as they shall adopt or employ and such other and| information concerning their activi- ties if such Committee may require, - ©. The Supervisors. shall provide for the execution of surety bonds for all employees and officers who shall be entrusted with funds or property; shall provide for the keeping of a full and accurate record of all-proceedings and of all résolutions, regulations and orders issued or adopted; and shall) th provide for an annual audit of the ac- counts or receipts and disbursements. Any Supervisor may be removed by the State Soil Conservation Committee upon’ notice and hearing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. D. The Supervisors may invite the Yegislative body of any municipality or county located near the territory comprised within the District to des- ignate a representative to advise and 4} consult with the Supervisors of the District on all questions of program and, policy which may affect the property, water supply, or other inter- ests of such municipality or county. Section 7, Powers of Districts and Supervisors.) A Soil Conservation Dis- trict organized under the provisions of this Act shall constitute a govern- mental subdivision of this State, and & public body corporate and politic, exercising public powers, and such District, and the Supervisors sberent, shell haye the following powers, in addition to others granted in sections of this Act: (1) To conduct surveys, investi- gations and research relating to the character of soil erosion and the pre- Naeled and control measures needed, publish the results: of such sur- Rae a fayestigutions or research, and disseminate information concern- ing such preventive and control 3 provided, however, that in order to avoid duplication of research activities, no District shall initiate any research program except in co-opera- tion with the government of this State or any of its agencies, or with the United States or any of its agen- cles; (2) To conduct demonstrational projects within the District on lands grams, tillage practices and changes in use of land; and to publish such |plans and information and bring to Prescribe appropriate erning the conduct thereof, publish the result thereof. pliers of lands wil be eligible Pe dum. No inf duct of such referendum matters relating thereto shall date said referendum or the thereof if notice thereof shall been given substantially as provided and said referendum shall have been fairly conducted. } The Supervisors shall not have au- © thority to enact such ordi~ nence into law unless at least two- thirds of the land occupiers vote in favor of said ordinance and provided further that the land occuplers of twe- thirds of the land area within the district shall have voted at such endum. The approval of ordinance by a majority of the cast in such referendum net deemed to require the Supervisors to enact such proposed ordinance inf law. Land-use regulations in ordinances adopted pursuant to the provisions of this Section by the Bu- pervisors of any District shall haye the force and effect of law in the said District and shall be binding and obli- gatory upon all occupiers of lands within such District, Any occupier of land within such District may at any time file a petition with the Su that any or all of the land-use regulations pre- scribed in any ordinance adopted by the Supervisors under the provisions of this section shall be amended, supe plemented or repealed. Land-use regr ulations prescribed in any ordinance adopted pursuant to the provisions of this section shall not be amended, sup- plemented or repealed except in ac- cordance with the procedure pre- scribed in this section for adoption of land-use regulations. Referenda on adoption, amendment, supplementa- tion or repeal of land-use regulations shall not be held more often than once in six (6) months. ‘The regulations to be formulated by the Supervisors under the provisions of this section may include: 1. Provisions requiring the carry- ing out of necessary engineering oper-+ ations, including the construction of terraces, terrace outlets, checkdams, dikes, ponds, ditches and other nec- essary structures, 2. Provisions requiring observance of particular methods of cultivation including contour cultivating, contour furrowing, lister furrowing, sowing, planting, strip cropping, seeding and planting of lands to water-conserving. and erosion-preventing plants, trees and grasses, forestation and reforesta- tion; 3, Specifications of cropping pro- grams and tillage practices to be ob- elias i ag ili Fe ss the attention of occupiers of lands| served within the District; (9) To take over, by purchase, lease or otherwise, and to administer, any soil-conservation, erosion-control or erosion-prevention project located within its boundaries undertaken by the United States or any of its agen- cies, or by this State or any of its agencies; to manage, as agent of the United States or any’of its agencies, or of this State or any of its agencies, any soil-conservation, erosion-control or erosion-prevention project within its boundaries; to act as agent for the United States, or any of its agen- cies or for this State or any of its agencies, in connection with the ac- quisition, construction, operation or administration of any soil-conserva- vation, erosion-control or erosion- ptevention project within its bounds arles; to accept donations, gifts, an contributions in money, services, ma- terials or otherwise, from the United States or any of its agencies, or from this State or any of its agencies, and to use or expend such moneys, serv- foes, materials or other contribu- tions in carrying on its operations; 10) To sue and be sued in the name of the District; to have a seal, which seal shall be judicially noticed; to have perpetual succession unless term- inated as hereinafter provided; to make and execute contracts and other instruments, necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers; to make, and from time to time amend and re- peal, rules and regulations not incon- sistent with this Act, tocarry-into ef- fect its purposes and TS; (11) _ As @ condition to the extend- ing of any benefits under this Act to, or the performance of work upon, any lands not owned or controlled by this State or any of its agencies, the Su- pervisors may require contributions in money, services, materials or other- wise to-any operations conferring such benefits, and may require land occu- pliers to enter into and perform such agreements or covenants as to the permanent use of such lands as will tend to prevent or control erosion thereon; (12) “No provisions with respect to the ‘acquisition, operation or disposi- tion of property by other public bod- Jes shall be applicable to a District hereunder unless the legis- lature shall specifically so state. Section 8. Adoption of Land-Use Regulations.) The Supervisors of any District shall have authority to formu- late regulations governing the use of lands within the District in the inter- est of conserving soll and soil re- sources and preventing and controll- ing soil erosion. The Supervisors may conduct such public meetings and public hearings upon tentative regu- lations as may be necessary to assist them in this work.. The Supervisors shall not have authority to enact such land-use regulations into law until after they shall have caused due notice to be given of their. intention to conduct a referendum for submis- sion of such regulations to the occu- piers of lands lying within-the bound- other | aries of the District for their indica- tion of approval or disapproval of such proposed regulations, and until after the Supervisors have considered the result of such referendum. The proposed regulations shall be em- bodied in a proposed ordinance. Cop- jes of such proposed ordinance shall be available for the inspection of all eligible voters during the period be- tween publication of such notice and the date of the referendum. The no- tices of the referendum shall recite the the contents of such proposed ordi- nance, or shall state where copies of such proposed ordinance may be ex- amined. The question shall be sub- mitted by ballots, upon which the words ‘For approval of proposed ordi- nance No..,...... » Prescribing land- “use regulations for conservation of soll and prevention of erosion”. and “Against approval of proposed ordi- ‘nance No. ........ . Prescribing land- use regulations for conservation of soil and prevention of erosion” shall be | ab! printed, # direction to insert an “X” mark in the square before one or the Other of said propositions as the voter may favor or oppose approval of such proposed ordinance. The Supsrvisors shall supervise such referendum, shal) 4. Provisions requiring the retire- ment from cultivation of highly erosive areas or of areas on which erosion may not be adequately controlled if cultivation is carried on; 5. Provisions for such other names, measures, operations and programs as may assist conservation of soll and water’ resources and prevent or con- trol soil'erosion in the District, having due regard to the legislative finds aet forth in Section 2 of this Act. The regulations shall be uniform throughout -the territory comprised existing, cropping and tillage practices made available to all occupiers lands lying within the District, Section 9. Enforcement of Land- Use Regulations.) jupervisors. shall have authority to go bat any lands within the District to déter- mine whether land-use regulations adopted under the provisions of Sec- tion 8 of this Act are being observed. Any person, firm, or corporation who shall violate any of such regulations shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. District shall find that any of the pro- visions of land-use regulations pre- scribed in an ordinance approved in accordance with the provisions Section 8 hereof are not being served on particular lands, and that such non-observance tends to increase erosion on such lands and is interfer- ing with the prevention or control erosion on other lands within district, the Supervisors may to the District Court a petition, duly verified, setting forth the adoption of the ordinance prescribing land-use regulations, the failure of the defend- and land occupier to observe such reg- ulations, and to perform particular. work, operations or avoidances as re- quired thereby, and that such non- observance tends to increase erosion on such lands and is interfering with the prevention or control of erosion on other lands within the District, and praying the court to require fendant to perform ork, tions. or avoidances able time and to or defendant shall fail 3 80 to Supervisors may go on form the work or other otherwise bring the condition lands into conformity with Fe ale petition, the to be issued against and shall hear the case. appear to the court necessary for the of the matter, it ma: or appoint a area dence as it may direct and same to the court fact and conclusions of shall constitute a part of ings upon which the the. court shall be Jat the work, operations or avoldances, may provide that upon failure of defendant to initiate such perform: