NRCS History Publications

A convenient resource for soil conservation professionals and students of the history of conservation.

Engineering has played an essential part in meeting NRCS' mission objectives.

The story of the Soil Conservation Service, told by the four men who ran the agency over a period of some thirty years. 

This publication provides case studies of the agency response to the 1993 Midwestern floods.

Using a case study of changes in soil erosion in the "Driftless Area" of the Coon Creek watershed, this publication illustrates a methodology for determining long term changes in erosion conditions.

Conservation and Culture: The Soil Conservation Service, Social Science, and Conservation on Tribal Lands in the Southwest features USDA's efforts to address soil erosion on Navajo and Hopi reservations in the 1930s.

As a soil scientist in the Soil Conservation Service, the author, David Gardner, saw the soil survey from the inside while working in scientific and technical positions as well as in administrative ones.

The seven oral history interviews and three articles in this volume recount significant historical developments in snow surveying and waters supply forecasting in the Western U.S. since 1935.

This paper provides a brief overview of the Soil Bank program and its long term value for conservation.

This publication provides a historical overview of the relationship between NRCS and private contractors who perform conservation work.

This paper examines conservation and policy discussions leading to and the historical context of the ideas contained in the Conservation Security Program (CSP).

This paper explores former SCS director Donald A. Williams' review of and suggestions for improving New Zealand's soil conservation institutions in 1964.

This history provides a window onto SCS’ and later NRCS’s delivery of assistance to land owners, and how new legislation and programs influenced the conservation operations.

This paper provides analysis of why an environment favorable for passage of the 1985 Farm Bill came to be, and it draws a few lessons from the experience.

The SCS developed principles that aided the soil and water conservation program and made pioneering contributions to science and technology.

This article discusses the establishment of Soil Erosion Service demonstration projects by Hugh Hammond Bennett and colleagues between 1933 and 1935.

This paper discusses how Bennett’s USDA career made him the logical candidate to lead the Federal soil conservation effort.

This report examines historical expenditures on 32 conservation programs administered by the NRCS, Farm Service Agency (FSA), and their predecessor agencies. 

This document describes the USDA Watershed Program's history, its current state, and the challenges it faces in the future.