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HOUSE COMMEMORATION NO. 1037
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Introduced by: Representatives Dennert, Brunner, Hoffman, Kloucek, Kopp, Schaefer, Scott,
Sigdestad, Street, Van Gerpen, Vanneman, and Verchio and Senators Hansen
(Tom), Begalka, Frerichs, Fryslie, Krebs, Maher, Rampelberg, Rhoden, and
Vehle
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A LEGISLATIVE COMMEMORATION, Honoring and recognizing seventy-five years of
conservation leadership.
WHEREAS, the Dirty Thirties were epitomized by rolling dust storms, dirt-clogged fence lines,
and hardship caused in part by inadequate conservation practices; and
WHEREAS, the 1937 South Dakota Legislature recognized the urgent need for local leadership
to conserve our natural resources and enacted HB 206 allowing South Dakotans to organize
conservation districts through petition and referendum; and
WHEREAS, all of South Dakota's lands became part of conservation districts in 1972 when the
city of Freeman elected to be included; and
WHEREAS, the conservation district mission is to take all available technical, financial, and
educational resources and focus or coordinate them so they meet the needs of the local land manager
with conservation of soil, water, and related natural resources; and
WHEREAS, South Dakota's conservation districts have provided seventy-five years of vital local
leadership encouraging stewardship of the natural resources, which are our state's economic base;
and
WHEREAS, every South Dakotan, urban and rural, benefits from efforts to improve soil health,
water quality, air quality, plant diversity, and habitat for wild and domestic animals; and
WHEREAS, conservation involves personal and social responsibility, including a duty to learn
about and improve natural resources as we use them wisely, leaving a rich legacy for future
generations:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT COMMEMORATED, by the Eighty-seventh Legislature of the
State of South Dakota, that the Legislature salutes our state's current and previous conservation
district leaders and recognizes the economic, social, and recreational importance of natural resources
conservation to the entire state.