"Conservation is the protection and wise management of the environment. People practice conservation so that the environment can provide for their needs and the needs of other living things. Without conservation, all the resources necessary for life- air, animals, energy, minerals, plants, soil and water would be damaged, wasted, or destroyed."
Eight main kinds of conservation are:
1. Soil
2. Water
3. Wildlife
4. Forest
5. Grazing land
6. Mineral
7. Recreation
8. Urban areas
Soil Conservation: "Most of the food that supports life comes from the soil, either directly or indirectly. Theodore Roosevelt once said, "When the soil is gone, man must go. And the process does not take long."
The earth is a great ball of rock about 8,000 miles in diameter. But its thin surface of soil averages only 2 or 3 feet thick. The depth of the topsoil, the fertile top layer is usually thin enough to be measured in inches. It takes several hundred years to build one inch of top soil, but erosion can wash or blow away this inch in a few years or even weeks. Rain falling on an acre of barren, sloping land can wash away as much as 60 truckloads of soil in a year. Water can also carve gullies in hillsides. Wind may blow the top soil off both sloping and level land. In the U.S. erosion has destroyed an estimated 50 million acres of farmland since colonial times.
Other processes besides erosion can make soil lose its fertility. Heavy rainfall can leach out the materials plants need to grow. Fertilizing the crops has become necessary in recent years. Wise farmers add chemical and natural fertilizer to maintain the food supply for the growing plants. Animal manure and green plants can increase the food supply for plants.
Plant rotation is an important way of keeping soil fertile.
Contour plowing where the farmer plows his furrows across the slope, rather than up and down, provides furrows that catch the water and hold it, instead of allowing it to run down the hills.
Stair-step terraces also help prevent erosion.
Planting trees or grasses help prevent deep gullies on hill sides and are the best way to keep land covered with these closely grown plants.
Strip cropping- raising different crops on alternating strips to prevent erosion.
Flax strips placed on fall plowing, help hold snow as well as prevent erosion.
Conservation was seen to be on the increase on the national level in the 1930's and 1940's. During the depression thousands of unemployed men and youths worked on federal conservation projects. These CCC men were employed to plant trees and build dams. In 1935 the Soil Conservation Service was set up under the Department of Agriculture.
Conservation Districts were set up to enlist the cooperation of the county, city, town and village in the problem of conserving our natural resources. These districts are sponsored by state and federal government. Farmers join soil conservation districts to get technical assistance and to work out efficient farm management plans. In the U.S. more than 2,700 districts are organized.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 122