Franklin D. Roosevelt

Message to Congress on a Program for the Great Plains Area.

February 10, 1937

To the Congress:

I TRANSMIT herewith for the information of the Congress, the report of the Great Plains Committee under the title, "The Future of the Great Plains."

The report indicates clearly that the problem of the Great Plains is not merely one of relief of a courageous and energetic people who have been stricken by several years of drought during a period of economic depression. It is much more fundamental than that. Depression and drought have only accentuated a situation which has been long developing. The problem is one of arresting the decline of an agricultural economy not adapted to the climatic conditions because of lack of information and understanding at the time of settlement, and of readjusting that economy in the light of later experience and of scientific information now available.

The settlers of the Plains brought with them agricultural practices developed in the more humid regions from which they came. By historic circumstance the period of settlement was generally one of rainfall above the average, and, although water was known to be scarce, these practices then appeared to be suitable. The long-run experience, however, has disclosed that the rainfall of the area hovers around, and, for considerable periods, falls below the critical point at which it is possible to grow crops by the agricultural methods common to humid regions. A new economy must be developed which is based on the conservation and effective utilization of all the water available, especially that which falls as rain and snow; an economy which represents generally a more rational adjustment of the organization of agriculture and cropping plans and methods to natural conditions.

The whole subject of drought on the Great Plains dovetails into the studies made by the National Resources Committee in the larger aspect of public works planning. Previous and current studies of land and water problems have been undertaken on a nation-wide basis. In this report they have been re-worked and applied by the Great Plains Committee in cooperation with other Federal agencies and with State and regional planning agencies as a component part of our desire to develop a program of constructive action for the drought area.

Whatever program is adopted must be cooperative and will require complementary lines of action by the Federal Government, State Governments and all the citizens of the Region individually. Each has material interests at stake and can no longer afford to defer constructive action; each has moral responsibility for unwitting contributions to the causes of the present situation; and especially each has responsibility for undertaking lines of action essential to effectiveness of action by the others.

The problem is one that can be solved, but the solution will take time. Therefore a policy should be determined, a long-run program formulated, and execution begun without undue delay.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Message to Congress on a Program for the Great Plains Area. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/209321

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