[AACS] Día Nacional de la Conservación del Suelo

Jue Jul 7 15:39:57 ART 2016

Estimados,

Hoy se celebra el Día Nacional de la Conservación del Suelo en memoria 
del Dr. Hugh Bennet.
Saludo muy especialmente a los que cotidianamente contribuyen con su 
esfuerzo a la protección y cuidado de nuestros bellísimos suelos.

Diego J. Cosentino
Presidente AACS

www.suelos.org.ar

*Hugh Hammond Bennett*(April 15, 1881 – July 7, 1960) was a pioneer in 
the field ofsoil conservation 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_conservation>in theUnited States of 
America <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_America>. He 
founded and headed the Soil Conservation Service, afederal agency 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_federal_agencies>now referred 
to as theNatural Resources Conservation Service 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Resources_Conservation_Service>.

Bennett was born near Wadesboro in Anson County,North Carolina 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina>and graduated from 
theUniversity of North Carolina 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill>in 
1903. Immediately upon graduation, he became asoil surveyor 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_survey>, and conducted soil studies, 
both in the United States and in other countries, that eventually 
convinced him thatsoil erosion 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_erosion>was a serious problem facing 
the planet.

    Conservationis

By the 1920s, Bennett was actively writing about soil erosion for 
popular magazines and scientific journals, with works appearing in 
publications like/Country Gentleman 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_Gentleman>/and/Scientific Monthly 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Monthly>/.^[1] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hammond_Bennett#cite_note-1> ^[2] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hammond_Bennett#cite_note-2> ^[3] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hammond_Bennett#cite_note-3> ^[4] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hammond_Bennett#cite_note-4> He 
co-wrote aUnited States Department of Agriculture 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture>publication 
in 1928 titled/Soil Erosion: A National Menace/, which was regarded as 
his most influential work and garnered the attention of 
RepresentativeJames P. Buchanan 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Buchanan>ofTexas 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas>.^[5] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hammond_Bennett#cite_note-5> 
Buchanan, who was a member of theUnited States House Committee on 
Appropriations 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Appropriations>, 
helped obtain funding in 1929 for soil erosion studies in the United 
States. Bennett was also instrumental in the formation of theSoil 
Conservation Society of America 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_Conservation_Society_of_America>(now 
theSoil and Water Conservation Society 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_and_Water_Conservation_Society>).

    Government service

When the Soil Erosion Service was established as part of theUnited 
States Department of the Interior 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_the_Interior>in 
September 1933, Bennett became the director. He continued to speak out 
on soil conservation issues, especially through theDust Bowl 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl>years, and eventually 
influenced the passage of the soil conservation act of April 27, 1935, 
which created the Soil Conservation Service at the USDA. He remained at 
the head of that organization until he retired in 1951.

Hammond hiredHenry Howard Finnell 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Howard_Finnell>to put his soil 
expertise to work:

    Hugh Hammond Bennett, the head of the Soil Conservation Service, put
    Finnell in charge of Region Six, the hardest-hit area of the
    country; code name: "Operation Dustbowl
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Dustbowl&action=edit&redlink=1>."
    Finnell set up shop north ofDalhart
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalhart>. Areas where the soil was
    not suitable for cultivation were turned back to grassland. Thirteen
    other demonstration projects, manned byCCC
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps>andWPA
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_Progress_Administration>workers, put
    Finnell’s moisture-conserving ideas to the test, with great success.
    By May of 1936, nearly 40,000 farmers had joined him, and 5.5
    million acres were under new terraced and contour-listed
    cultivation. At the end of 1937, despite the persistent dust storms,
    the amount of dangerously eroded land had been reduced by more than
    half.^[6]
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hammond_Bennett#cite_note-6>

Hammond's efforts changed the mindset of American farmers toward soil 
conservation, and as director of the Soil Conservation Service, he 
helped them learn new ways of cultivation that protected the soil and 
preserved fertility. The creation of the Soil Conservation Service and 
its inclusion in the United States Department of Agriculture also marked 
the US government’s acceptance and establishment of the interpretation 
of soils for soil and water conservation. As director of the SCS, 
Bennett launched a campaign for soil conservation toward educating the 
public and politicians by identifying areas in theDust Bowl 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl>where the combination of 
geographic and agricultural systems caused the most serious erosion.^[7] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hammond_Bennett#cite_note-autogenerated2-7> 

Largely in response to Bennett's campaign for soil conservation, 
Representative James P. Buchanan of Texas attached an amendment to the 
1930 appropriations bill authorizing the USDA to establish a series of 
soil erosion experiment stations. The Coon Creek Watershed Project, in 
southwestern Wisconsin, was the first of many watershed-based projects 
initiated to demonstrate soil conservation practices to farmers.^[8] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hammond_Bennett#cite_note-autogenerated1-8> 
The locations for these stations were selected by Bennett, and involved 
teams of researchers establishing plots to measure erosion conditions 
under various types of crops, soils, rotations, and their responses to 
different agricultural managements practices and structures.^[7] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hammond_Bennett#cite_note-autogenerated2-7> 

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