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Success Story

Hugh Hammond’s Birthplace was Part of the First Soil Conservation District in Nation

By Nancy McNiff, USDA Farm Production and Conservation Business Center
Publish Date
People watching the unveiling a large plaque titled "The Brown Creek Soil Conservation District - First in America"

The first soil conservation district was organized in the Brown Creek watershed in Anson County, North Carolina, on August 4, 1937. Today, there are over 3,000 conservation districts in all 50 states that not only address soil conservation, but also water, forests and wildlife.

Hugh Hammond Bennett, the first Chief of NRCS, was born in 1881 in Anson County, North Carolina, where he and his 8 siblings grew up and worked on his father’s cotton plantation. Bennett helped his father lay out terrace lines in the land – digging channels in hilly ground to help keep the water in the soil. The story goes that he asked his father why they had to do such difficult work, and his father replied, “Boy, it’s to keep the soil from washing away!” His father’s reply stuck in his mind and guided him throughout his career in soil conservation.

Around 1935, while Bennett was Chief of the Soil Erosion Service (SES), he and other managers began to search for ways to extend their soil conservation message and assistance faster. They had already set up projects to demonstrate the benefits of conservation practices, but they needed to expand their reach nationwide. They believed the solution was to establish democratically organized soil conservation districts in the states to lead the conservation planning effort at the local level.

Creating a Conservation District Framework

To create a framework for districts to manage local conservation efforts and implement soil erosion control projects, the USDA drafted the Standard State Soil Conservation Districts Law in 1936. Following the devastation of the Dust Bowl, the President urged the states to adopt this legislation and sent it to the governors of all the states in 1937. The goal was to involve local citizens in voluntary, community-based conservation planning and for districts to function as local units of government to develop and carry out local erosion control plans district wide.

Shortly thereafter, the first soil conservation district was organized in the Brown Creek watershed in Anson County, North Carolina – the place of Bennett’s birth and childhood – on August 4, 1937. That soil conservation district covered about 120,000 acres of land, much of it badly eroded, including the plantation where Bennett grew up. Local farmers petitioned and voted to create the district, and local participation by farmers and landowners ensured its success.

A Model for the Future

The Brown Creek District became the example for other conservation districts in other states. By July 1, 1945, all 48 states had passed district-enabling acts. Today, there are over 3,000 conservation districts in all 50 states that not only address soil conservation, but also water, forests and wildlife. They coordinate assistance from all available sources—public and private, local, state and federal—to develop locally-driven solutions to natural resources concerns. They provide landowners with technical assistance, resources, education, and sometimes funding to implement conservation practices and promote sustainable land use. 
But the ultimate success of the soil conservation district program is due to the voluntary participation by local farmers and landowners. Without their participation, the program would not work.

Hugh Hammond Bennett once said: “One of the best, and certainly the most promising, of the devices yet invented by man for dealing democratically and effectively with maladjustment in land use, as well as for carrying forward positive programs of desirable conservation, and for maintaining the work, is the soil conservation district.” 

Additional Resources

To learn more about NRCS history and Hugh Hammond Bennett, see these additional resources: