The dilemma of conservation

Excerpt

WILL conservation need a national disaster to survive another 50 years?

The conservaton progress we celebrate today was born from just such an event. Our nation's economy was in shambles, unemployment was rampant, bankruptcies and bank failures were daily occurances. Not even Mother Nature showed any mercy, bringing about additional disaster by producing the severest drought our nation has even known.

It was under these conditions of economic stress and natural disaster that a great American stepped forth. With limited but startling evidence of erosion, a political climate ripe for innovative programs and deficit spending, and an uncanny ability to sell and dramatize, Hugh Hammond Bennett secured authorization to begin our nation's soil and water conservation programs.

How have things changed in the past 50 years? More importantly, how will they change in the next 50 years?

A funding perspective

Let's look at these changes first from a financial point of view. Our conservation programs began five decades ago with nearly 100 percent federal funding. This naturally led to federal direction of programs. Subsequent organizational changes brought about substantial financial support from state and local governments as well as private investment. All produced gradual …