B1,+Montoya,+Hannah,+Hugh+Hammond+Bennet

Hugh Hammond Bennett  "The Father of Soil Conservation" **“Out of the long list of nature’s gifts to man, none is perhaps so utterly essential to human life as**

**soil.” - Hugh Hammond Bennett** **Early life:**  Throughout history, environmentalists have made discoveries that leave legacies behind. Hugh Hammond Bennett was born on April 15, 1881 in Anson County, North Carolina. He came from a large family of nine children and as a child he was well fed and clothed by his loyal family. As a young boy, about ten years old, he helped his father lay out terrace lines. He helped to dig small holes and mark points for the plow line. When he asked his father why they were doing so much work, his father responded, "To keep the land from washing away!" His interest in soil and the environment started from then on.

**Education:**  In the fall of 1897, he attended the University of North Carolina, but in the spring of 1899, he dropped out due to financial difficulty. After working in a pharmacy for two years, he was able to earn enough money to go back to school, with new found knowledge about human nature and business. Upon returning, he focused on chemistry and geology, graduating in the spring of 1903. Soon after his graduation, he became a soil surveyor, and conducted soil surveys around the world. From his studies, he learned of the serious problem facing the earth, soil erosion.


 * Career: ** Hugh Bennett loved every aspect of the outdoors. After examining much sheet erosion in the land he was studying, he wrote a twenty one page paper explaining and soils and evidence of erosion. In 1905 in Louisa County, Virginia Hugh Bennett made an important discovery, the idea of soil versus no soil. He found that the washed soil had no topsoil, unlike the other which had organic matter and was soft. Throughout his life, her strived for scientific credibility, and urged superiors to take on the issue of soil erosion. In 1929 he published a bulletin on soil erosion, and soon he started to get recognized as a young scientist. In 1935, he became the head of the US Soil Conservation service. He traveled around and gave speeches that influenced many people. Also, he laid the foundation for the local soil conversation districts.

**Quotes:**
 * Legacy: ** Hugh Bennett passed away on July 7, 1960. He left the world with five books, more than 400 technical papers, hundreds of soil reports, and numerous magazine articles. He is best remembered for arousing a nation on the negative effect of soil erosion, or as he called it, "a national menace." More than sixty years later, his impacts are experienced daily.
 * “In this democracy, national action to conserve soil must be generated by these millions of land**
 * users. If they are active and willing participants in such a movement, it will endure; otherwise it**
 * will fail.”**

“Take care of the land and the land will take care of you.”


 * “Too many people have lost sight of the fact that productive soil is essential to the production of**
 * food.”**

“Almost invariably, conservation farming—which, after all, is common sense farming with scientific methods—begins to show results the very first years it is applied.”


 * “…land must be nurtured; not plundered and wasted.”**

“…soil conservation is not just an incidental bit of the mechanics of farming; it becomes part and parcel of the whole business of making a living from the land, and is the only way by which we may have permanently productive land for a permanent agriculture to support a permanent nation.”

**Timeline of Hugh Hammond Bennett's life:** 1881- Born in North Carolin 1891- Interest in the enviroment began 1903- Graduated from University of North Carolina 1905- Discovery of Soil versus No soil 1929- Published a bulletin on Soil Erosion 1935- Became head of US Soil Convervation Service 1960- Death
 * “I consider the soil conservation districts movement one of the most important developments in**
 * the whole history of agriculture.”**

[] [] []
 * Helpful links:**

Louis Bromfield, as a tribute, said that "Hugh Bennett deserves the greatest honor from the American people as one of the greatest benefactors since the beginning of their history."