History

SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

Photo source: http://www.paper-dragon.com

dust bowl

Photo source: AP/Arthur Rothstein

April 14, 1935 marked the culmination of the period known as The Dust Bowl. This was our country’s worst ecological disasters in history. It was a defining moment in time when America’s government and its farmers realized that food production and westward settlement could not take place at the expense of our most valuable resources. Black Sunday, generated enough electricity in the air to power all of New York City, people were left blind from the grit in their eyes, and died within yards of their houses as they became lost and disoriented in the thick air. It was this same storm that left a layer of Panhandle dust across the desk of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Shortly thereafter, Congress unanimously passed legislation declaring soil and water conservation a national policy and priority, during what was also the worst economic period in our history. Because nearly three-fourths of the continental United States was privately owned, Congress realized that only active, voluntary support from landowners would guarantee the success of conservation work on private land. There needed to be a liaison to bridge the gap of mistrust between the farmer and the government.

By 1937 more than three-fourths of the topsoil had been lost from 8,543,000 acres and as a result, President Roosevelt wrote the governors of all the states recommending legislation that would allow local landowners to form soil conservation districts (NRCD’s). The Soil Conservation Service was also created (NRCS). Funding was made available for large-scale projects to be put into place immediately to save what soil was left of the Great Plains. At once, the Soil Conservation Service and the Conservation Districts began implementing conservation practices and educating farmers about soil conservation methods.

ARIZONA
Arizona’s NRCD’s were established in 1941 as legal subdivisions of the state, organized by vote of the landowners within the District, and managed by a Board of Supervisors elected by local people. A form of self-government authorized to identify and address the resource conservation needs of the district.

There are 41 Conservation Districts blanketing the entire State of Arizona, 32 of which are established under State Law and 9 established under Tribal Law. The District Board of Supervisors has the responsibility for determining the resource conservation needs of the District, for developing and coordinating long range plans and programs of natural resource conservation, and for implementing them under the District’s annual plan of operations. Districts work with many organizations, agencies, and individuals to accomplish soil and water conservation.

REDINGTON NRCD
The Redington NRCD was established in 1947 and is responsible for 285,860 acres of land located within Pima, Cochise, Graham and Pinal Counties. The demographic of land ownership and land use has changed dramatically in the past 62 years, but the need for conservation planning and education by and for local landowners has not. In 1947, farms and ranches began implementing practices and management plans focused on partnering conservation with production. Today there are more homes than farm fields and livestock pastures in our district. This requires that, as a Conservation District, we must consider conservation planning, priorities, and education for the needs of residential landowners as well as what remains of production agriculture.

Redington Natural Resource Conservation District P.O. Box 232 Pomerene, Arizona 85627
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