Dr. Bennett, a noted conservationist, is often called the father of soil conservation in the United States. He was born on April 13, 1881, in Anson County, North Carolina, and died July 7, 1960. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Dr. Bennett graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1903. After completing his university education, he became a soil surveyor in the Bureau of Soils of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He recognized early the degradation to the land from soil erosion and in 1929 published a bulletin entitled "Soil Erosion, A National Menace." Soon after that, the nation began to heed the admonitions of this young scientist.

In 1933, the U.S. Department of Interior set up a Soil Erosion Service to conduct a nation-wide demonstration program of soil erosion, with Bennett as its head. In 1935, the Soil Conservation...