National Agriculture Week on March, 2025: Why is Green Mountain a National Forest?

National Agriculture Week 2025.

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Green Mountain is a NATIONAL FOREST NOT a NATIONAL PARK.

As a national forest, it is managed to provide people with a wide variety of services and commodities, including lumber, cattle grazing, mineral products and recreation with and without vehicles (i.e., multiple use). US national forests are managed by forest rangers with the US Forest Service (USFS) under the Department of Agriculture.

Were it a national park, the emphasis would be on strict preservation of pristine areas. The focus is upon protecting natural and historic features plus light-on-the-land recreation. The ultimate goal is to preserve resources "unimpaired for future generations." Park rangers work for the National Park Service (NPS) under the Department of the Interior.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service recently celebrated the centennial of a landmark environmental law that led to the creation of nearly 20 million acres of national forest lands in the eastern US. The Weeks Act, authored by U.S. Senator John W. Weeks of New Hampshire, provided for the creation of national forests in the East. The Act also established cooperation among states, tribes, and individuals to protect forests and watersheds from fire, flooding, deforestation, and other threats. About one-fifth of the nation’s clean drinking water has its origins in national forests established under the Weeks Act.

In Vermont, the Weeks Act has been the legislative vehicle used to conserve and protect the roughly 400,000 acres known to Vermonters and visitors as the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF). Many conservationists view the Weeks Act as one of the most significant achievements of the 20th century. While the Weeks Act was originally passed by Congress in 1911, it is still being used to provide Americans access to broad sections of federal land in Vermont and elsewhere.

Vermont is not without a national park: The Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park near Woodstock, Vermont.

The links below will provide you with verification and additional information, particularly about Green Mountain National Forest and the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park:

Good luck!

When did agriculture develop in Africa?

Agricultural development forwarded in West Africa

afrol News, 14 March - As some 150 delegates from across the world convene in Mali this week to determine early actions and implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development's (NEPAD's) Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) in West Africa, the programme is already receiving huge international support. West Africa aims at annual growth rates of 6 percent for its agricultural sector.

The CAADP so far has been most successful in Southern Africa. According to a NEPAD news release, the African Development Bank (ADB) has already pledged US$ 150 million for an agricultural water management programme to increase food security in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), while the Italian government has contributed US$ 250,000 to facilitate this programme.

NEPAD's agricultural advisor, Professor Richard Mkandawire, says in addition the World Bank has contributed US$500 000 for a budget tracking system of CAADP. "Early action plans for the estimated US$ 240 billion are being determined and regional economic committees are taking responsibility for the implementation," he adds. Now, West Africa hopes to achieve similar support.

The CAADP implementation meeting for the West Africa region, which will be officially opened by Mali's Prime Minister, Ousmane Issoufi Maiga, tomorrow, is taking place with the collaboration of national governments in Africa, the G8, technical experts and regional and international organisations. An implementation meeting for North Africa will be held in Egypt early in April with a round-up meeting in Ghana soon afterwards.

Mr Makandawire says feedback on the implementation progress to the G8 in Paris and Bonn following the recent regional implementation meetings in Tanzania and Mozambique was well received.

CAADP is an Africa-made roadmap to improve agricultural productivity and reduce hunger throughout the continent. The programme's four main thrusts are expanding areas under sustainable land and water management, improving market access and infrastructure, increasing food supplies, reducing hunger and improving responses to food emergencies, as well as improving agricultural research and technology dissemination and adoption.

- If successful, CAADP will achieve an annual average growth of six percent by 2015, while focusing on small-scale farmers and women, says Mr Makandawire. "It will also achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth, sustainable management of natural resources and integration of farmers into the market economy."

Most African countries have validated and internalised CAADP in their agricultural development plans. "The challenge now is to move beyond political commitment to prepare specific projects and programmes and to mobilise the funding and expertise to actually implement them," says Mr Makandawire.

What were the wages of UK agriculture workers in the 1950s?

There was a range of minimum wages paid to agricultural workers, as determined by the Agricultural Wages Act 1948 and the Wages Councils Act 1947. Over the decade, wages changed considerably in all trades including agriculture.

At the start of the 1950s, agricultural weekly minimum wages ranged from 22 shillings and 6 pence (22/6) to £4.14.0d, depending on the grade of work and the age of the employee. In 1960, these had risen to £2.14.9d and £7.18.5d. respectively.

These corresponded to about half the average wage for skilled manual workers in engineering, shipbuilding, construction, and chemicals. The reasons presented by the Agricultural Wages Board for these low wages included the fact that most agricultural workers were expected to live in "tied accommodation", meaning that they had free or low cost housing on the farm, and also that they had easy access to food and fuel through the farm business.

Since 1999, a National Minimum Wage (NMW) has operated in all employments in UK. Since 2002, agricultural wages have been subject to an annual Agricultural Wages Order which states the relationship between the NMW and the Agricultural Minimum Wage (AMW). It is now a requirement that agricultural workers will receive the NMW unless there are exceptional circumstances, including the accommodation and food provisions as in the earlier legislation. The NMW now ranges from about £230 per week to about £340 per week depending on grade of work, so those are the minimum wages that may be paid to agricultural workers.

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