(a) Each conservation district organized under this act
shall make an annual estimate of the funds required by the
district for conservation programs and present a certified copy
of the estimate, along with a budget showing all anticipated
income and expenses, to the county commissioners. District
supervisors shall administer the finances of the district
according to the provisions of the Uniform Municipal Fiscal
Procedures Act, except that an annual audit in accordance with
W.S. 16-4-121 is not required. Each district shall comply with
the provisions of W.S. 9-1-507(a)(iii).
(b) A conservation district organized under this act and
the supervisors thereof, in addition to other powers granted by
this act, may:
(i) Employ personnel and determine their duties and
conditions of employment;
(ii) Call upon the attorney general of the state for
legal services or employ their own counsel and legal staff;
(iii) Delegate to their chairman, to one (1) or more
supervisors or to one (1) or more agents or employees such
delegable powers and duties as they deem proper;
(iv) Furnish to the state conservation commission
upon request, copies of ordinances, rules, regulations, orders,
contracts, forms and other documents they adopt or employ, and
such other information concerning their activities as it may
require and to the county clerk copies of ordinances, rules,
regulations and orders it adopts in accordance with law;
(v) Conduct surveys, investigations and research and
disseminate information relating to range management, the
character of soil erosion, flood prevention or the conservation,
development, utilization and disposal of water, and the
preventive and control measures and works of improvement needed,
but in order to avoid duplication of research activities, no
district shall initiate any research program except in
cooperation with the government of this state or its agencies,
or with the United States or its agencies;
(vi) Conduct demonstration projects within the
district on lands owned or controlled by this state or its
agencies, with the cooperation of the agency administering and
having jurisdiction thereof, and on other lands within the
district with the consent of the owner or occupier of the lands,
to demonstrate range management practices, the means, methods
and measures by which soil and soil resources may be conserved,
and soil erosion in the form of soil blowing and washing may be
prevented and controlled and works of improvement for flood
prevention or the conservation, development, utilization and
disposal of water may be carried out;
(vii) Carry out preventive and control measures and
works of improvement within the district, including engineering
operations, range management, methods of cultivation, the
growing of grass or other vegetation, changes in use of land or
any measure which may be developed for the control of erosion
and better use of soil, and works of improvement for flood
prevention or the conservation, development, utilization and
disposal of water on lands owned or controlled by this state or
its agencies, with the cooperation of the agency administering
and having jurisdiction thereof, or on other lands within the
district with the consent of the owner or occupier of the lands;
(viii) Cooperate, including but not limited to
representing the conservation district as a cooperating agency
with special expertise as provided by the National Environmental
Policy Act and in federal land planning implementation as
provided in W.S. 11-16-135(a), enter into agreements with and
furnish financial or other aid to, any agency, governmental or
otherwise, or any owner or occupier of lands within the
district, in carrying on range management or erosion control and
prevention operations and works of improvement for flood
prevention or the conservation, development, utilization and
disposal of water within the district, subject to such
conditions as the supervisors deem necessary;
(ix) Repealed by Laws 1987, ch. 21, § 3.
(x) Repealed by Laws 1987, ch. 21, § 3.
(xi) Repealed by Laws 1987, ch. 21, § 3.
(xii) Repealed by Laws 1987, ch. 21, § 3.
(xiii) Repealed by Laws 1987, ch. 21, § 3.
(xiv) Make available on terms it prescribes, to
owners and occupiers of land within the district, agricultural
and engineering machinery and equipment, fertilizer, seeds and
seedlings, male breeding animals, livestock supplies and such
other material or equipment as will assist the owners and
occupiers of land to carry on operations upon their lands and
upon those owned or leased by the district, for range
improvement and stabilization, the conservation of soil and
water resources, the prevention and control of soil erosion and
for flood prevention or the conservation, development,
utilization and disposal of water. The assistance authorized by
this paragraph shall be on a limited scale for demonstration
purposes and the district shall not be deemed authorized to
compete with private industry;
(xv) Repealed by Laws 1987, ch. 21, § 3.
(xvi) Develop and implement comprehensive resource
use and management plans for range improvement and
stabilization, conservation of soil, water and vegetative
resources, control and prevention of soil erosion and for flood
prevention or the conservation, development, utilization and
disposal of water within the district, which plans shall include
range management provisions and shall specify in detail the
acts, procedures, performances and avoidances necessary or
desirable to carry out the plans, including the specification of
engineering operation, fence and stockwater developments,
methods of cultivation, the growing of grass and other
vegetation, cropping and range programs, tillage and grazing
practices, and changes in use of lands. In developing plans
under this paragraph, the supervisors of the district shall
consider the customs and culture of residents of the district as
those customs and culture relate to the land and resource,
current and historical information and data related to the uses
of the land and resource;
(xvii) Make public the plans and information and
bring them to the attention of owners and occupiers of land
within the district;
(xviii) Repealed by Laws 1987, ch. 21, § 3.
(xix) Manage, as agent of the United States or any of
its agencies, and enter into agreements with the United States
or any of its agencies, or this state or any of its agencies, to
effect cooperation with the United States or any of its agencies
under United States Public Law 566 approved August 4, 1954, or
amendments thereto, in connection with the acquisition,
construction, operation or administration of any land
utilization, soil conservation, erosion control, erosion
prevention, flood prevention projects, conservation of water,
water utilization, disposal of water in watershed areas and
other water projects within its boundaries;
(xx) Act as representative for local groups in
dealing with the United States or its representatives, in soil
or water conservation matters under United States Public Law 566
approved August 4, 1954, or amendments thereto;
(xxi) Accept donations, gifts and contributions in
money, services, materials or otherwise from any source which
will impose no financial obligation upon the state, and use or
expend the monies, services, materials or contributions in
carrying on its operations;
(xxii) Sue and be sued in the name of the district;
(xxiii) Have a seal, which shall be judicially
noticed;
(xxiv) Have perpetual succession unless terminated as
hereinafter provided;
(xxv) Make and execute contracts and other
instruments necessary to the exercise of its powers;
(xxvi) Make, amend and repeal rules and regulations
not inconsistent with this act, to implement its purposes and
powers;
(xxvii) As a condition to extending any benefits to
or performance of work upon any land not owned or controlled by
the state or its agencies, require contributions in money,
services, materials or otherwise to any operations conferring
benefits and require owners and occupiers of land to enter into
and perform such agreements or covenants as to the permanent use
of such lands as will prevent or control erosion and prevent
flood water and sediment damages thereon and promote the best
use of such lands;
(xxviii) The supervisors of a conservation district
which has officially adopted a comprehensive plan pursuant to
W.S. 11-16-122(b)(xvi) may coordinate with federal agencies as
provided in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976,
the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of
1974, as amended by the national Forest Management Act of 1976
and any other federal statute which provides for coordination
with local governments and federal regulations adopted pursuant
to those acts.
(c) A conservation district shall not purchase or hold
title to farm lands as defined by W.S. 11-34-101(a)(ii).