Topics Related to soil conservation

Dr. Hugh Bennett Photo from the Archives of Union CountyWhy We Have Soil and Water Conservation DistrictsOf the layers of soil that we walk on every day, we are perhaps most concerned with topsoil which, oddly enough, lies just below the surface. This is where seeds germinate, and the healthier and richer it is, the more productive a crop. It was the degradation and loss of topsoil that led to the Dust Bowl, compounding the economic stress of a nation already in the throes of the Great Depression.

On April 27, 1935, Hugh Hammond Bennett of Anson County became director of the Soil Conservation Service, a position he held until his retirement in 1952.  “Big Hugh,” as he came to be known, grew up in the drainage basin of the Pee Dee River and became aware of the woeful effects of soil erosion at an early age. He is widely credited with selling the benefits of soil conservation to a dubious public.