Soil Erosion Service (SES) was founded in 1933 and was one of many Alphabet agencies, also called New Deal agencies. Soil Erosion Service was an U.S. federal government agency created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the Soil Conservation Act signed on April 27, 1935. Soil Erosion Service was created to combat the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression in the United States. The problem of soil erosion was major during the 1930s. The Soil Erosion Service was later moved into the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), and then the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).[1][2][3][4]

History

The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 included funds to fight soil erosion. Some of the cause of the dust bowl was caused by concentrated agriculture, some called sodbusters, farmers that plowed up native grasses grow wheat and other crops. The some of the grassland were used livestock before the sodbusters. Most sodbusters activity was between 1905 and 1915. By the 1920s rainfall had dropped off and crops failed. The grassland soil with no grass roots turned to dust and formed the black blizzards of the Great Plains for about 10 years.[5] Soil Erosion Service started as service in the United States Department of the Interior in 1933. Hugh Hammond Bennett served as the first chief of the Soil Erosion Service till 1951.[6] The Soil Erosion Service was transferred to the Department of Agriculture in 1935.[4] Soil Erosion Service activities, included education on conservation practices to landowners on land with severe erosion. Soil Erosion Service did demonstration projects for landowners. Some of the labor for the Soil Erosion Service demonstrations and projects was provided by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA).[7] After the Flood Control Act of 1936, Soil Erosion Service worked on watershed management projects also.[2] Soil Erosion Service worked with tree nurseries to supply the needed trees and seeds for projects. The Soil Erosion Service did soil control project and conservation project to combat erosion on government lands. The Soil Erosion Service start aerial photography programs to help in conservation and agricultural projects. Soil Erosion Service also worked with the Agricultural Conservation Program. In 1952, US Soil Survey merged with Soil Erosion Service.[2][8][9]

See also

References

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