By Candice Abinanti, NACD Director of Communications

This month marks the 80^th anniversary of NACD. The association was formed on July 25, 1946, and this year we’ve been exploring the theme, “Deep Roots, Bold Horizons.” We’re celebrating the history of conservation districts, partners, and the association while moving confidently forward.

Since the early days, a conservation plan has been a foundation for effective conservation implementation. In this blog post, we’re taking a look at America’s first conservation plan and conservation planning today.

America’s First Conservation Plan

The Oconee Soil and Water Conservation District in South Carolina carries the distinction of being the home of America’s very first conservation plan. There, the development of the first conservation plan was completed on February 4, 1938, for the farm of Ploma Adams. Adams was an Oconee County landowner whose 330-acre farm was located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the state’s northwest corner.

Assisted by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), now NRCS, and the local conservation district at the time, the Upper Savannah Soil Conservation District, Adams’ first-in-the-nation plan helped pave the way for the development of conservation plans across the country and the voluntary conservation programs we know today.

Guided by the plan, Adams implemented conservation practices like cover crops, crop rotation, and terracing on her land to combat erosion and restore and protect soil health. Informed by the strong example of land stewardship she saw in her youth, she volunteered her property to serve as a testing ground.

“I would say that my background prepared me, or, was the reason that I knew the soil conservation program was what this farm needed,” Adams wrote in her local newspaper in 1963. “I grew up on a farm where every acre was personally watched over and cared for. There were no furrows plowed up and down hill. No ground was ever allowed to be plowed ‘wet.’ The terraces were a model for farmers.”

Adams’ plan was a milestone in conservation agriculture history. Twenty-five years after it was developed, Adams and the Upper Savannah Soil Conservation District were honored for their soil conservation efforts with the unveiling of a state highway historic marker in front of her house commemorating the location of the first conservation plan. Community members were invited to attend a banquet, and Adams and district leadership were prominently featured on the front page of the local paper, The Journal and Tribune.

Though a recreation complex now occupies Adams’ former farm, visitors can still find the First Soil Conservation District Plan Historical Marker located on West South 4^th Street in Seneca, South Carolina.

Striking a Balance: Yesterday and Today

Adams’ first plan was a cooperative agreement between her and the local conservation district. A typewritten table in the plan outlined her fields and acres and the crops and covers to plant in them over the course of five years.

“The emphasis was to move from using the whole piece of property for money crops towards interspersing areas with different types of grasses,” explained Mark Fischer, District Manager for the Oconee Soil and Water Conservation District.

The plan provided detailed instructions for crop rotation each season and establishing hay, meadow, and border strips, along with terraces, pastures, and timber stands.

Like today’s plans, Adams’ plan struck a balance, with goals that are still fundamental to land stewards. Her plan addressed natural resource concerns still common today—like soil erosion and water quantity and quality—while enhancing productivity, profitability, resilience, and wildlife habitat.

Maps: Key from the Beginning

Looking at Adams’ plan, “Some of my favorite parts are some of the illustrations and different graphics to help understand the specifications that were drawn out in the plan,” said Fischer.

Drawings and diagrams of Nichol’s Terraces, terrace maintenance, water disposal, and more were all part of that first plan. Another visual element has remained key to conservation planning and implementation from the very beginning: maps. Several photos of Adams from the 1968 banquet feature her with a large map of her property. Once neatly hand-drawn physical and topographic maps, over time, the maps in conservation plans have evolved.

“When I first started in 1983, we’d come back to the office and get our black and white photos and draw what we agreed with the farmer he was going to do,” recalled Sam Ward, Watershed Project Manager with the Horry Soil and Water Conservation District on South Carolina’s coast. “We’d put a plan together and have two or three pieces of paper in it, one was a map and the farmer would work off of that.”

“Today we come back to the office with GPS points,” explained Ward. “Technology has made things more precise. We can get closer with today’s maps because we’re zooming in from space. Before, they were taking it with an airplane, and you couldn’t manipulate it. You can manipulate the maps today so that’s a plus as far as being able to get your conservation message across easier and pick spots out.”

Evolution of Conservation Practices

Over time, conservation practice implementation, like the plans, has also evolved.

“When I started almost 43 years ago, no-till was a novelty. It wasn’t common,” said Ward. “Now, it’s unusual to see cropland for row crops tilled. Most of it is now some form of conservation tillage. That’s happened in my career. It’s made a great deal of difference because of the money saved and the improvement in soil health.”

Today, in addition to the growth of practices like no-till and cover crops, Ward lauds the achievements of precision agriculture, which helps producers save money and keep excess nutrients away from the water we all share.

“Now, farmers have that capability,” said Ward. “They can tie soil samples to GPS, and they can tell what needs to be put on the crop to optimize yield but not throw away money on unnecessary inputs.”

Bennett’s Planning Principles Persist

“The important thing about Ploma’s plan was that it served as a template that could be shown to other farmers,” said Fischer.

Adams’ partnership with what was then SCS and her local conservation district to develop the plan and serve as a model to others was key to the growth of America’s voluntary, locally led conservation delivery model.

In 1947, Hugh Hammond Bennett said an effective conservation planner must adhere to the following principles:

• Consider the needs and capabilities of each acre within the plan
• Consider the farmer’s facilities, machinery, and economic situation
• Incorporate the farmer’s willingness to try new practices
• Consider the land’s relationship to the entire farm, ranch, or watershed
• Ensure the conservationist’s presence out on the land

These principles still ring true today. Over the years, conservation planners like Sam Ward continue to serve producers in their communities through planning and technical assistance.

Over four decades into his career, “I still enjoy going to a farmer’s farm and helping him figure out a way to get a problem he has solved,” said Ward.

“A lot of our farmers feel like family,” said Nina Warren, District Office Manager for the Horry Soil and Water Conservation District and a colleague of Ward’s. “They come in and trust our opinion and know we’re always out there to help them. We really do have good relationships with our farmers.”