Page:Report of the Oregon Conservation Commission to the Governor (1908 - 1914).djvu/145



The Oregon Conservation Commission was created by act of the legislature filed in the office of the Secretary of State February 23, 1909. It is composed of seven members, appointed by the Governor, who serve without compensation. This Commission supersedes a former commission of fifteen members, semi-official In nature, that was appointed by former Governor Chamberlain to make a report on the natural resources of the State and to bring before the people the necessity of adopting a rational policy for the conservation of these resources. The present water law was prepared and its passage urged by the fonner commission.

The work of the Commission is "to ascertain and make known the natural resources of the State of Oregon, and to co-operate with the National Conservation Commission to the end that the natural resourc of the State may be conserved and put to the highest use."

It is apparent that in order to insure success the work of the Commission must proceed along fixed lines with a clearly defined object in view. The first essential is to bring forcibly to the minds of the people the facts concerning the resources of the State. To do this it has been found necessary to institute a sort of Know-your-own-State” campaign. To this end three distinct lines of work will be pursued:
 * (1) The offering of prizes to students in our schools and

college for the best papers on conservation topics.
 * (2) The stimulation and encouragement of the development

of Eastern Oregon through dry-farming, and
 * (3) The promotion of the development of Western Oregon

through irrigation and drainage.

Prizes aggregating $1,350 have bean offered by the Conservation Commission to the students of the universities and