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Hughes County Conservation District |
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Conservation Districts can trace their existence back to a single defining moment in time, the Dust Bowl Years of the 1930’s. When the government opened up Oklahoma to settlers, the land was rich and fertile. It was covered with a dense cover of native grass which held the soil in place. Many of those who came to Oklahoma to settle qualified for Homestead Act. This act provided each head of household with a 160 acre parcel of land, which they had to live on and farm for a five year period. Many agronomists strongly advised Congress that these 160 acre tracts would be unsuitable, especially for the western half of the state. They pleaded with Congress to expand these tracts to 320 acres. Congress, however, favored the smaller tracts for several reasons. First, it opened up the land to larger numbers of settlers. Second, Congress wanted to see an increased population in this previously wild, untamed territory. In the beginning, almost everyone prospered. The land provided an seemingly endless bounty. With the introduction of mechanized farming techniques, settlers were able to plant on more acres. Most of the settlers planted wheat, setting record wheat production for the 1931 growing season. At this same time, the United States was entering into the Great Depression. Market prices for wheat dropped. Farmers started planting more and more acres in order to earn back their cost of production. The land was stripped of its drought resistant grasses with dense root systems and laid bare to the wind and rain. The farmers planted the same acreage year after year, which never allowed the land to rest and as like an athlete, the land soon became exhausted of nutrients and unproductive. Beginning in the 1930’s the rains stopped coming and the winds started blowing, and the wind kept blowing for the next several years. The wind began picking up the bare soil and blowing it away. More and more topsoil was consumed by the winds until by 1932, the black blizzards (a series of 14 dust storms) engulfed the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico and Colorado. The dust was so thick that you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face at midday. It was so thick that many people and animals choked on it, with an estimated 50,000 people dying from dust pneumonia. Many of those that saw the clouds rolling in thought it was the end of the world. The dust was swept hundreds of miles by the winds and even covered ships 300 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean. During this time, there was a single voice in Washington D.C. that kept telling people of increasing dire conditions in the central states. Hugh Hammond Bennett was a soil scientist who was alarmed at the amount of erosion he was seeing through his work on a national soil survey. So when the Senate’s Public Lands Committee needed someone to testify about the drought situation and the loss of topsoil, they called on Mr. Bennett to address Congress, most of whom had no idea of the seriousness of the situation in the nations heartland. Mr. Bennett began to testify on April 2, 1935. He presented charts, reports and facts to support his case. He was slow and methodical in his presentation. He never hurried nor strayed from the issue. Many of the congressmen became restless waiting for him to finish his testimony. But Mr. Bennett had a little demonstration he was patiently waiting to give to Congress. He knew that a major dust storm was about to reach Washington. So he kept talking and talking and talking. Finally, the room started to get dark. Worried staff workers told their Senators that something strange was occurring outside. Everyone gathered around the windows as huge rolling black clouds of dark gritty dust filled the air and blocked out the sun. Mr. Bennett let Mother Nature herself make the final testimony. Congress immediately passed the “Soil Conservation Act”. The Soil Conservation Service was established, the original name of the current day Natural Resources Conservation Service. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a model law to all 50 states that would allow landowners and operators to establish soil conservation districts. He was so adamant with it that much of federal funding depended on each state enacting this law into their state laws. In April 1937, Oklahoma passed the Conservation District Enabling Act which gave citizens the right to form their own local conservation District. The Act also established the Oklahoma Conservation Commission which is the “parent” organization for all Districts. A hearing was held in Wetumka on August 16, 1938 on the proposed establishment of the Northern Hughes County Soil Conservation District. The standing vote at the end of the hearing showed 91 in favor of and 4 opposed to the referendum. The election to form the District was held on September 16, 1938 and a Certificate of Organization was issued on November 10, 1938. The District covered all that land north of the South Canadian River. The first district Supervisors were: J.W. Nicks, John W. McKee, George O. Monroe, Elmer Jenkins and John R. Wolf. The very first District Cooperators agreement was signed by George Brannon on August 9, 1939. On August 29, 1941, the south end of Hughes County was annexed into the Northern Hughes County Soil Conservation District. The name was changed in 1949 to the Hughes County Soil Conservation District. Over the years the word Soil was dropped from the title and now the District is known as the Hughes County Conservation District. Conservation Districts serve a unique role. They are local subdivisions of State Government. They are overseen by a local Board of Directors who are knowledgeable about local natural resource concerns. In this way, each individual conservation district is tailored to meet the needs of its area. This is beneficial because the problems we face here in Hughes county are not the same as those in the panhandle, or in the Northeast or Southwest part of the state. We can set our OWN priorities and establish those practices which would best address our own particular needs. This is what makes conservation districts viable sources of information, technical assistance and conservation education. Conservation Districts work voluntarily with landowners rather than as a regulatory agency. Districts fill the gap between city/rural landowners, government agencies and environmental organizations. Districts can remain neutral and work to find the best possible solution for ALL groups concerned. In this way, we work everyday to ensure that Oklahoma never sees another catastrophe like the Dust Bowl ever again.
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