inspired the Canadian film Heritage (1939). The Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau produced this film for Canada's Department of Agriculture. While not a copy of The Plow That Broke the Plains, Heritage used The Plow That Broke the Plains as a model for how to produce a film particular to Canada's own problems in the Great Plains and to make a case for federal government programs. A U.S. government catalog of documentary film classics states that The Plow That Broke the Plains "has been one of the most widely praised and studied documentaries to be produced in America" and that its images "serve sort of visual shorthand which expressed a massive social problem on a more intimate and human scale." The Plow That Broke the Plains also generated discussion on the future of the Great Plains and brought up the question as to what extent the land of the Great Plains regions should be used for agriculture. Under the National Film Preservation Act The Plow That Broke the Plains was selected for preservation in 1999 as it was deemed to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" significant. Political legacy Following the success of The Plow That Broke the Plains and The River (1938), President Roosevelt became interested in how the government could use documentaries to communicate. Roosevelt attempted to continue the financing of the U.S. Film Service whose purpose was to "coordinate motion picture activities for the federal government, establish a national film library; set minimum standards for future government films, examine scripts for prospective films; give advice to other movie-making entities private or public, and to produce a small number of films in conjunction with other federal agencies". However in response conservative Democrats and Republicans criticized the service for misusing Works Progress Administration funds and creating New Deal Propaganda. Due to Congress's wariness of funding a propaganda machine, it cut the U.S. Film Service budget and its work ended by June 30, 1940. Following the end of the U.S. Film Service, American film efforts were run solely by Hollywood. The Plow That Broke the Plains was also significant for prospective Democratic congressmen and senators who used the films content to promote their own platforms during their election campaigns. Rereleases Following its removal from circulation in 1939, The Plow That Broke the Plains was again available to the public in a 1962 release. In 2007 The Plow That Broke the Plains