Allegany County Soil and Water Conservation District

The Board of Supervisors of Allegany County pursuant to the authority vested in that Board by virtue of the Soil Conservation District's Law in New
York, Chapter 727 Laws of 1940, adopted a Resolution on November 19, 1941, establishing Allegany County as a Soil Conservation District.

The first Board of Directors was:   Hugh Chamberlain, Supervisor
                                                               Richard E. Hall, Supervisor
                                                              Charles Wightman, Grange Representative
                                                              Mark Sanford, Farm Bureau Representative
                                                              Robert Ainsworth, Member at Large

The first meeting of the Directors of the Allegany County Soil Conservation District was called to order on Wednesday evening, January 21, 1942, in the
Farm Bureau Office in Belmont by Mr. Kelsey, who represented the State Soil Conservation Committee.

A tentative budget was adopted by the Directors for 1942 in the amount of $275.00. The first appropriation to the District was for $200.00.

The first Memorandum of Understanding with the USDA was signed on April 6, 1942.

At this time Allegany County was thought to contain approximately 670,720 acres of land of which 442,088 acres were classified as farm land according
to the 1940 Census. The 3,018 farms had a valuation of $10,851,864.00. Much of the 147,701 acres of cropland was subject to severe sheet and gully
erosion. Of the 112,000 acres of pasture land, about 58,000 acres was plowable. The remainder was rough brushy land. Thorn brush presented a real
problem on many pastures and most of the pastures were low in fertility which limited their forage production and water holding capacity. There were
78,568 acres of woodland on privately owned farms, 60% or 47,000 acres of the woodland was being pastured to the extent that the productivity was
injured. Nearly all of the woods were in need of management. The remaining 98,000 acres of land in the County was idle or under public ownership. The
State of New York had purchased 34,111 acres most of which was reforested. The Federal government owned about 5,000 acres of game preserves,
and the County has purchased 86 acres for reforestation.

The 5 most important problems within the County were determined to be:

1. Wide spread soil erosion
2. Idle Land
3. Soil Fertility
4. Damage to farm land and public property from floods and stream bank cutting.
5. Depletion of the agricultural resourses of the County by:

    a.  Improper land use

    b.  Lack of management of the cropland to increase productivity

    c.  Poor management of pastures

    d.  Lack of management of woodlands and wildlife habitat

The long term objectives set by the Directors were:

1. Continue the study of soil erosion problems and methods of control
2. Conduct an educational program to:

    a.  Acquaint farmers with the erosion problemb.  Provide information and facilities to aid in the control of soil erosion

    c.  Promote best land use.

3.  Manage idle land in accordance with best land use for the public interest.

4.  Maintain soil fertility to preserve a profitable and permanent agrculture.

5.  Protect farm land and public property from floods and stream bank cutting.

6.  Maintain and improve the agricultural resources of the County by:

    a.  Putting each acre to use for which it is best adapted

    b.  Managing cropland to insure maximum productivity per acre

    c.  Improving pastures

    d.  Managing woodlands and improving wildlife areas.

The first year accomplishments of the District were:
 889  Acres of Strip Cropping                                   34,900  LF of Diversion Terraces
  350  LF of Outlet Channels                                       7,350  LF of Stream Channels
  532  Acres of Rotational Grazing                                    80  Acres of Pasture Clearing
    13  Acres of Reforestation                                           31  Acres of Woodland Improvement
  243  Acres of Woodland Protection

The first District office was located in the County Courthouse and remained there until March of 1957 when it was moved to the Belmont Library. The
office moved to the Ag Service Center in August of 1977 and to it's present location at the District Facility in September 2009