Reflections on the 2013 SWCS Annual International Conference

Excerpt

And they gathered in Reno. The 68th Annual International Conference of the Soil and Water Conservation Society met in the high desert valley Truckee Meadows at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This fertile valley feels the pressure of urbanization and competition for limited water resources. It reminds us of one of many challenges we face: competition for the soils and water that will produce the food necessary to feed our future generations.

Resilient Landscapes, our conference theme, reflects a second compelling challenge for the future. Throughout the world, the agricultural landscape shows the scars of the tremendous pressure to produce in today's climate and economic conditions. Flood, fire, drought, and storm have shown us why conservation management decisions are as important to the farmer and rancher as seed, fertility, and pest management. We know that there is resilience in our soils, but we also know that we are pressing the limit of that resilience in far too many cases.

Dr. Gene Kelly set the stage for the conference in the Pritchard Lecture. He examined the vulnerability of soils to changing climate and land use conditions from across the Great Plains to the South African Savannah. If you missed…