The soil conservation imperative: Past versus present

Excerpt

CRITICS today often remark that soil conservation programs are not working. That contention bears too much truth for comfort among pioneer conservationists. Participants in the movement's early years know that programs bore fruit in the 1930s and 1940s and wonder why the current complexities of farming cannot be overcome. Such statements as “conservation programs are working now but in a different pattern than those in Bennett's days” or “the social, political, and economic setting today is more complex” are not very satisfying and only give basis to the need for innovation that will put the nation's conservation efforts back on track.

In a penetrating, constructive commentary, “The Leadership Crisis in Conservation Districts” (JSWC, September-October 1985, page 420), Peter Nowak proposed how to gain stronger local leadership for soil conservation. A central thesis of Nowak's position is that a farmer goes through a series of identifiable steps in reaching a conservation decision and, Nowak emphasized, “there are dramatic differences between Hugh Hammond Bennett's world and that of today.” In a socioeconomic sense, the two worlds are different. But in a relative sense …